Bishops to Aquino: Stop militarizing lumad areas

From InterAksyon (Oct 6): Bishops to Aquino: Stop militarizing lumad areas
 

The Ecumenical Bishops Forum assailed the Aquino administration for the militarization of lumad communities in Mindanao, saying the eviction of indigenous peoples through threats and summary killings “will destroy the nation.”

Quoting the Bible, EBF, in a statement signed by its executive secretary Bishop Elmer M. Bolocon of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, said: “When the King is concerned with justice, the nation will be strong, but when he is only concerned with money, he will destroy his country.”

The bishops added: “The country is, indeed, being destroyed. Our lumad who belong to the indigenous peoples (IPs) are getting harassed, intimidated, threatened and killed. Their leaders are being extra-judicially exterminated because they defend their ancestral land and protect their people. The perpetrators, the military and their paramilitary forces, use as an excuse the pretext that these leaders are New People’s Army combatants or supporters.”

The “unjustified” accusations, EBF said, have also become the basis for military and paramilitary units to force lumad to leave their communities on threat of death or arson of their homes.

The Aquino government cannot legitimize the killing of Emerito Samarca, executive director of the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development, and of Manobo leaders Dionel Campos and Datu Bello Sinzo on September 1 in Lianga, Surigao del Sur by saying they “supported” the NPA, the bishops said.

EBF’s position also thrashed the opinion of economist Solita Monsod who wrote in a column that only rebels and their supporters run the risk of being killed.

Earlier, the military also claimed that more than 60 percent of the NPA in Mindanao are lumad.

EBF said threats of arson and mass murder are more than enough reason for tribal communities to evacuate and seek sanctuary in safer areas, like the hundreds of Manobo from Talaingod, Davao del Norte and San Fernando, Bukidnon staying in a church compound in Davao City, and 3,000 refugees in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur who fled their homes after the Lianga killings.

“Why are they being driven out of their ancestral lands? The reason is money,” the bishops said. “Big foreign mining corporations want to exploit the resources of the lands known for their richness in gold, nickel and copper. The military wants to make sure that that happens. However, they could not freely enter due to people’s resistance. Hence, the militarization of the area had to commence.”

“Money has become more important than people!” they added.

The bishops noted that lumad communities have been “neglected” for decades yet, after churches and nongovernmental organizations took it on themselves to build schools, these have come under attack from the military and paramilitary groups.  

They also slammed North Cotabato Representative Nancy Catamco, who chairs the committee on indigenous people at the House of Representatives, for parroting military claims that the lumad refugees in Davao City are “trafficking” victims being held against their will and orchestrating a foiled “rescue” attempt that left several persons injured.

The EBF voiced support for the lumad’s position that they will not return to their communities unless militarization ends.

“We support the just demand of the lumad. It is their right to go back to their own homes and be assured to live in peace. This is the least that the government can do -- leave them in peace,” the bishops stressed.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/118521/bishops-to-aquino-stop-militarizing-lumad-areas