DAVAO CITY: An official of the Police Regional Office in Davao Region (PRO-11) has denied that those who attempted to rescue indigenous people (IP) from the Haran compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) here were members of the Alamara paramilitary group.

“It is not true, they are tribal leaders who just want their fellow IP brothers and sisters to go back to their communities,” Brig. Gen. Filmore Escobal, PRO-11 director, said during a Saturday standoff when tribal leaders from Kapalong and Talaingod, Davao del Norte, led by Datu Guibang Apoga attempted to rescue IPs housed at the Haran Mission Center.