II.

IP – Apostolate of the Church

More action required by church to truly help indigenous people

Indigenous people from various parts of the Philippines arrive in the capital Manila on Oct.
13 for part of the month-long "journey of national minorities for self-determination and just
peace." (Photo by Angie de Silva)
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About a thousand indigenous people — men, women, and children — from the southern
Philippines region of Mindanao walked for several days to the nation's capital early
October last year to raise awareness of what they continue to experience at the hands
of the national government.

Carrying torches to light the way and banners to amplify their message, the indigenous
people reached Manila a few days before world leaders met there for 2015's Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
They set up camp inside a university campus where, students, activists, ordinary folk
from nearby gated communities, leaders of various church and civil society groups,
supplied them with sacks of food, clothing, and even toys for the children.

There seemed to be no end to the donations. The indigenous people even had to invite
people from nearby communities to share meals. It was a big party. Even Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle of Manila came to visit.

The indigenous people stayed for almost a month in the capital. They appeared on
several television shows, were interviewed on radio, landed on the front pages of
national dailies, and their stories were carried by international wire agencies.

They became overnight celebrities who had pricked the conscience of the country.

The sad reality of tribal communities in the Philippines is not only limited to people in the
southern part of the country.

Last week, some 6,000 tribal people from all over the country came marching to the
capital on Oct. 13 in what they described as a "journey of national minorities for self-
determination and just peace."

Wearing their traditional clothes and playing bamboo instruments, they emphasized
their desire for independence.

They called on the new administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to charter a course
for an independent foreign policy and back it up with concrete actions, adding that tribal
communities have also been victimized by local and foreign development projects that
ultimately displaced their communities.

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Philippine tribals return home year after massacre

Philippine tribal people march to assert self-determination

Philippine Catholic network joins call to stop killings

Philippine indigenous people have suffered a lot. Their leaders have been killed and
their schools have been closed. They have received endless threats from government
soldiers who are quick to accuse people living in hinterland communities of being
supporters of communist rebels.

Walking along with the tribal people were Catholic and Protestant church leaders who
have been in the forefront in calling for an end to attacks on indigenous communities.

Church leaders said it is their "utmost obligation to hear the cry for help and stand with
the poor."

The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, a Catholic organization of missionaries

working in rural communities, said the call for an end to attacks on tribal communities is
"morally just" and a "concretization of the teachings of Christ."
The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines issued a statement
condemning what the group described as the "massive forced displacement and, even
worse, massacres, killings, harassment and rampages of terror in tribal lands."

It is "tantamount to tolerating cultural destruction or effecting the obliteration, even

genocide, of the lumad people," said the religious leaders.

In a period of five years from 2010 at least 53 lumads, as the tribal people of Mindanao
are called, had been killed.

Up to 2015, a total of 144 indigenous people, environmental defenders and human

rights activists around the country have become victims of extrajudicial killings.

Thousands of others were displaced due to government military operations in hinterland

tribal communities in the Philippines.

As the Catholic Church in the Philippines observe the "Indigenous Peoples Sunday" this
month, the challenge is for church leaders to put into action what they have declared
almost 30 years ago.

In 1978, the country's Catholic bishops began celebrating "Tribal Peoples Sunday"
every second week of October to honor the contribution of tribal people to society.

The celebration aims to call people's attention to the plight of the more than a hundred
indigenous tribes in the Philippines that are often exploited and discriminated against in
society.

In declaring "Tribal Peoples Sunday," the country's Catholic bishops said part of the
mission of the church is expressing Gospel values in terms that are understandable and
respectful of the culture of tribal people.

Years have passed since that first church observance, but most parishes still have to go
beyond the homilies and commentaries, and solidarity dinners and visits to tribal
communities.

Although the Philippine Catholic Church as an institution has maintained its militant
stand on behalf of indigenous peoples, much is still expected from bishops, priests, and
the religious in putting into action their avowed commitment to serve the poorest of the
poor.

Much has to be done to support the indigenous people's struggle for the fullness of life,
which Redemptorist missionary to Mindanao Karl Gaspar said, will only come with "the
full blossoming of the people's struggle for self-determination."