Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez has called for the immediate demilitarization of lands owned by the Lumads or indigenous peoples (IP) in Mindanao to ensure the safe return of those who left their communities because of heavy militarization and encroachment of mining activities on their ancestral lands.

Lopez made the call after she visited on Friday the Haran compound of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP), which has been serving as refuge for around 300 Lumad evacuees who fled their homes and farmlands last year following alleged harassment by paramilitary groups and indiscriminate killings of their leaders.

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