Philippine church groups call for end to tribal killings

Bishop says indigenous people are victims of abuse and persecution.

Indigenous people from the southern Philippine region of Mindanao lead an Oct. 26 protest in Manila, calling for an end to attacks on indigenous communities. (Photo by Joe Torres)

Manila:  Church groups in the Philippines have joined calls for an end to attacks on indigenous peoples and the killings of tribal leaders in the southern region of Mindanao.

"It is our utmost obligation to hear the cry for help and stand with the poor," said Sister Francis Anover, national coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

The nun said calling for an end to attacks on tribal communities is "morally just" and a "concretization of the teachings of Christ."

Catholic priests, nuns, seminarians, and Protestant pastors joined thousands of activists, students and civil society groups in welcoming hundreds of tribal people from Mindanao, collectively known as lumad, who arrived in Manila on Oct. 26 in a protest caravan.

Aside from dramatizing their demand for the pullout of troops in tribal communities, the monthlong march dubbed "Manilakbayan" or "Journey to Manila" aimed to create "national awareness" on the plight of indigenous peoples.

"Allowing the lumad to be subjected to massive forced displacement and, even worse, massacres, killings, harassment and rampages of terror ... is tantamount to tolerating cultural destruction or effecting the obliteration, even genocide, of the lumad people," read a statement issued by the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines.

"We cannot allow this behavior to continue," added the statement signed by some 1,200 church leaders, including Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, Obispo Maximo Ephraim Fajutagana of the Philippine Independent Church, Bishop Reul Marigsa of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and the Rev. Rex Reyes of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

Tribal leaders in Mindanao had earlier called on the country's Catholic bishops to "actively intervene to end the militarization of areas where tribal communities live."

In a statement, Bishop Pabillo of Manila said the church in the Philippines stands with tribal people, who have been victims of abuse and persecution.

Festive welcome in Manila

Songs, chants, and hugs welcomed the indigenous people from Mindanao, who journeyed more than 1,000 kilometers, when they arrived at the University of the Philippines campus in the suburb of Quezon City on Oct. 27.

Teary-eyed students offered bottled water and food to the marchers while tribal children handed handmade bracelets and head gear during a welcome encounter on a kilometer-long avenue leading to the country's premiere university.

The southern region of Mindanao is known to be rich in mineral deposits of gold, copper, silver, nickel, and chromite and hosts some of the world's largest mining companies.

Data from the indigenous peoples' group, Katribu, shows that at least 53 lumads had been killed since 2010 when President Benigno Aquino came to power. Katribu's documentation shows that the killings have intensified in 2015, claiming 13 lives as of Sept. 1.

Source: UCAN