Separating the struggles of indigenous people from the problems of those in cities has left many not caring
Religious groups hold an ecumenical prayer to show solidarity with indigenous peoples during a tribal celebration in the northern Philippines in this April 22 photo. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Mark Saludes, Manila, Philippines
July 26, 2018
I felt compassion, love, and respect for Mindanao’s indigenous peoples the first time I met tribal youth leader Michelle Campos in 2015.
The photograph I took of her that day inspired and stimulated a desire in me to become an advocate of tribal peoples’ rights.
The picture depicts the ordeal of a young woman who stood up to fight and seek justice despite the pain and suffering she had to encounter, and to become the symbol of her tribe’s struggle.
It was two years after I took the picture that I realized that compassion, love, and respect are not enough to understand the situation of indigenous groups.
One must fully immerse into the culture and look deeper into their knowledge and their spirituality that is deeply connected to the environment.
Michelle is the daughter of the late tribal leader Dionel Campos who was killed on Sept. 1, 2015, by members of a paramilitary group in the southern Philippines.
Campos was executed because of his opposition to mining operations and other destructive environmental issues in his ancestral land.
The murder of Campos and two other tribal leaders resulted in the forced evacuation of more than 4,000 people from their communities.
A year later, in September 2016, Michelle and the people of Diatagon village in Lianga town, Surigao del Sur province, returned home.
However, the political, economic and military situation in the area has not changed.
The threat of displacement due to armed conflict and military operations still hangs over the village.
On July 16, 2018, more than 1,000 people from Campos’ tribe fled their homes again due to soldiers who reportedly set up camp in their community.
My eight-day visit to Michelle’s community in August 2017 brought more questions than answers.
I asked myself why those terrible things happen to a community, which has nothing but a claim to land left to them by their ancestors.
What concerned me most was the realization that nobody seemed to care about the rural poor in far-flung places, aside from a few church people and rights advocates.
We can engage many people to give food to the hungry but only a few dare ask why there is hunger in the so-called promised land of the southern Philippines.
We can make religious leaders condemn the killing of farmers and tribal people, but only a handful offer sanctuary.
It is easy for Catholics in cities to express support for the struggle of indigenous peoples, but it is difficult to convince them to take a more active role.
During a tribal protest caravan in September last year, there was great deal of support from church groups, yet only a few visited the protest camp.
The tribal peoples’ campaign has already become a cliche. Words such as militarization, land-grabbing, ancestral lands, and self-determination are already overused.
Many of those who went to the protest camp seemed to only satisfy their charitable obligations by offering what they no longer desired before returning to their comfortable lives.
Are the tribal people really poor? They may be lacking in material things but their spiritually and culture are more advanced than people in the cities.
Catholics do charitable acts for the poor. They make great efforts to perform their “Christian duty.” But more than food and cash, more than giving away second-hand clothes, more than providing school supplies, we are called to walk and live with the poor.
Acts of charity, mercy and compassion must be propelled into a solid act of solidarity.
Solidarity invites us Christians to acquire a sense of ownership of the plight of the poor. It bids us not just to join the struggle but also to fight for it until the battle is won. It summons us to engage in the mission of the poor, into the journey of emancipation.
During my stay in Michelle’s village, I met a few remarkable people who gave up everything to live with the tribe and had chosen to become one with the tribal people.
One of them was Kenneth Cadiang who volunteered to be a schoolteacher.
When I asked him why he chose to live with the people in the mountains, there was a moment of silence. I think he was trying to construct his answer or he was already tired of answering this question.
“Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus remained in a God persona and wasn’t born as a man to live with the people?” he said.
“It could have been devastating,” he said, adding that he cannot serve tribal people “if I do not become a tribesman myself.”
Mark Saludes is a freelance journalist who covers social justice issues for ucanews.com.
