In 2015 Pope Francis issued Laudato Si his encyclical on
Care for Our Common Home. On Sept 1 2016 the Pope followed up with a message Show
Mercy to our Common Home. Cardinal Turkson said that “this Message is the next
logical step after Laudato Si” for it is showing us how to internalize its
teachings in our lives and in our world. It is asking us to live Laudato Si”.
GCCM-Pilipinas (Philippine Chapter of GCCM) is promoting a #Mercy2Earth Examen
based on the Message of Pope Francis as an aid in opening our hearts to our
complicity in environmental destruction with all its social consequences.
This #Mercy2Earth Examen has 6 steps:
1. Rest in the presence of God. 2. Give thanks for God’s creation and creatures 3. Reflect on the ways you have heard “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” 4. Ask forgiveness for the ways you’ve fallen short in caring for God’s creation and creatures. 5. Make amends by committing to concrete ways to show mercy to creation and your neighbors. 6. Closing prayer
1. Rest in the presence of God.
“Turning to this bountiful and merciful Father who awaits
the return of each of his children, we can acknowledge our sins against
creation, the poor and future generations.”
Before you begin, take a moment to remember that you are in
the presence of our loving Creator. It might help to close your eyes, take a
few deep breaths, and offer a prayer for the grace to listen deeply to God’s
word within you.
2. Give thanks for God’s creation and creatures.
“The first step… involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a
recognition that the world is God’s loving gift.”
Offer thanks for the many ways God has blessed
you through creation. This might include what you ate for breakfast, the water
you drink… or it might be a favorite tree, the sounds of birds chirping or a
place in nature that is special to you.
Give thanks for the the people, past and
present, who have contributed to the fabric of your life. You might think about
the people who helped raise you, your teachers, the people who pick your food,
make your clothes, and the countless others. Pope Francis invites us into
“loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but
joined in a splendid universal communion.” Our lives are interconnected, and
interdependent on so many other people!
3. Reflect on the ways you have listened to “the cry of the
earth and the cry of the poor.”
“In as much as we all generate small ecological damage,” we
are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the
disfigurement and destruction of creation.”
Take time to reflect on the following questions Pope Francis
asks in his message:
Am I aware of the “cry of the earth and the cry
of the poor?” Am I conscious of how the natural world, the plants, and animals
are suffering? Do I take time to learn about the social and economic realities
faced by so many around the globe?
In what ways have I made a conscious effort to
care for creation and its creatures? In what ways have I fallen short?
Are there ways and times that I consume more
than is necessary?
How can I help to “make amends for past and
present religious intolerance” as well as for injustice towards people of other
religions, “women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn?”
4. Ask forgiveness for the ways you’ve fallen short in
caring for God’s creation and creatures.
“After a serious examination of conscience and moved by
sincere repentance, we can confess our sins against the Creator, against
creation, and against our brothers and sisters.”
“Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our
Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment. This in turn
must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more
respectful of creation.”
Pray to God for the grace to know how you are invited to
better care for creation, the poor, and future generations. In his message,
Pope Francis offers the following guidance,
As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home
requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation
and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a
better world… A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What
kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who
are now growing up?”
What changes can you make in your personal life or in your
community to better care for our common home and its inhabitants, present and
future?
6. Closing Prayer
Conclude your examen by giving thanks for the merciful love
that you received during this time and then praying the final prayer in the
Pope’s message:
O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, who are so precious in your eyes… God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness and convey your mercy
throughout our common home. Praise be to you!
Amen.
“May the works of mercy also include care for our common home “ Pope Francis
Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas Rm.206, One Annapolis Building, #5 Annapolis Street, Cubao, Quezon City; gccmpilipinas@gmail.com; 09090658487
“Jerusalem is the foundation of our vision and our entire life. She is the city to which God gave a particular importance in the history of humanity. She is the city towards which all people are in movement – and where they will meet in friendship and love in the presence of the One Unique God, according to the vision of the prophet Isaiah: «In days to come the mountain of the Lord›s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it (…) He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more» (Is. 2:2-5). Today, the city is inhabited by two peoples of three religions; and it is on this prophetic vision and on the international resolutions concerning the totality of Jerusalem that any political solution must be based. This is the first issue that should be negotiated because the recognition of Jerusalem›s sanctity and its message will be a source of inspiration towards finding a solution to the entire problem, which is largely a problem of mutual trust and ability to set in place a new land in this land of God.” Kairos Palestine Document—A Moment of Truth, Chapter 9.5
Introduction
Easter Blessings! Thank you for accompanying us in this
journey to the cross. The purpose of the annual Kairos alert is to shed light
on the reality on the ground and provide a Christian commentary and analysis to
this reality. Indeed, you have heard from voices on the ground and
international activists on what it means to live as Palestinians and
Palestinian Christians under systemic injustice and discrimination. Whether we
talk about political pressure, collective punishment, restriction of movement,
or the denial of entry to holy sites, it all points to the severity of the
situation.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Kairos document.
When the document was written, the authors stated then: “Why now? Because today
we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people.” I wonder
if they knew back then that things would be even worst 10 years later. Last
year, Israel passed the new nation-state law, which arrogantly states that “the
right to exercise national self- determination in the State of Israel is unique
to the Jewish people.” This ignores the existence of millions of Palestinians
who have been living in this land for hundreds if not thousands of years—long
before Israel was even created— and prepares the way for more laws that will
further deny their rights. This is apartheid legalized! It is clear for the
world to see.
It is time to unite in our response for justice and
equality. Yet, may our response honor the one whose sacrificial death we
remember this holy week. As such, this call is grounded in logic of love and is
a call for non-violent resistance.
In the face of discrimination and apartheid, we insist that the only way forward is a shared land and a political reality of justice and equality. Let us call and commit ourselves to work towards a new socio-political reality in which all the dwellers of the land share the land and its resources equally and have the same rights—regardless of their ethnicity, nationality and religion. There should be no “second-class” citizens in this land. This is our response to
discrimination and apartheid. It all begins by ending the occupation.
We call on our sisters and brothers around the world to join
the Kairos Global movement and its signature campaign, which aims to mobilize
faith-based voices to lobby and unite towards ending the occupation. This is a
call for persons from around the world to further the Kairos call for an end to
the State of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and its occupation
of Palestinian territories. We urge you to consider signing, promoting and
distributing this call to all your networks. The aim is to present this call on
May 15, 2019, to Israeli embassies and foreign ministries all over the world
Finally, let us remember that the journey to the cross does
not end on Friday. Yes, Friday may last long and Saturday even longer, but
Sunday will inevitably come! It will be a day of resurrection gladness; a day
in which we remember that truth will overcome injustice; light will overcome
darkness; and freedom and liberty will overcome oppression and discrimination.
And because we believe in life and resurrection, we commit even stronger to
work tirelessly to make this a reality. Amen.
Kairos Palestine urges you to, please, do the following:
1. Distribute and study these theological reflections in
your places of worship each Sunday to inform and educate your community about
the suffering of your Palestinian family living under Israeli occupation.
2. Share the alert with congregations, regions, conferences,
presbyteries and dioceses across your country.
3. Respond to the Call…Send letters of solidarity and
support for justice in Palestine/Israel to the Israeli embassies in your own
country. For further information, see www.
allembassies.com/israeli_embassies.htm
4. “Come and see.” We will fulfill our role to make it known
to you the truth of our reality, receiving you as pilgrims— sisters and
brothers—coming to us to pray, carrying a message of peace, love and
reconciliation. Thus, you will know the facts and the people of this land,
Palestinians and Israelis alike. (Kairos 6.2)
5. Take tangible actions. Support Palestinian rights by
supporting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it
complies with International Law and UN resolutions. Support the right of
persons, corporations, states and nations to boycott Israel as an expression of
their freedom of speech.
6. Inform your Palestinian brothers and sisters about the
ways you have been involved with the Easter Alert by writing us at this email
address: kairos@kairospalestine. ps. Contact us for any other reason, too. Our
strength and courage are emboldened by our contacts with you.
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac:
Palestinian Christian pastor, theologian, writer, speaker, blogger, and more importantly, a husband and a father. Munther wears many hats. He now pastors Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and is at the same time the Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible. He is also the director of the highly acclaimed and influential Christ at the Checkpoint conferences and is a board member of Kairos Palestine. He speaks locally and internationally on issues related to the theology of the land, Palestinian Christians, and Palestinian theology. He is the author of “From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ- Centered Biblical Theology of the Promised Land”. Munther is a musician. He plays the guitar and the flute. He is also an avid sports fan, specially football (aka soccer!) and basketball (NBA). Munther originally studied civil
engineering in Birzeit. Realizing that numbers and construction sites are not
his thing, he obtained a master’s in biblical studies from Westminster
Theological Seminary and then a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
Munther is married to Rudaina – an architect, and together they have two boys:
Karam (4) and Zaid (2).
H.B. Patriarch Michel Sabbah’s Easter message
“Christ is risen; indeed, He is risen.”
May Easter bring all of us peace and justice in all
countries around the world. In Palestine and Israel, in Jerusalem—the city of
the Resurrection, in our prayer and in the heart of the conflict. This is our
prayer from Jerusalem on this glorious day of Resurrection.
We live in Jerusalem around the church of the Holy
Sepulcher, full of the hope that the Resurrection brings us. Because our lives
and the lives of all the inhabitants of Jerusalem are full of death, along with
the prayers of the righteous and good people of all religions. Death in our
context is the oppression of one people on another; it is a human being
humiliating another human being and uprooting that person from one’s holy city
and home. Today, this is the death of the Palestinians of Jerusalem.
The light of the Resurrection shines for all who want to see
it, as St. John said in his Gospel: «Light shines in darkness, and darkness
could not overpower it” (John 1:5). Jerusalem today is in darkness, and its
people seek life for themselves and their city. But life is far away. As we
celebrate the light of the Resurrection, there is darkness and struggle in the
hearts and in the town. We celebrate with great solemnity the light of good
Saturday, as a sign which precedes the full light of the Resurrection, and the new
life it brings. But the new life has not been reached by the people of
Jerusalem, neither those who oppress nor those who are oppressed.
In Jerusalem and all the Holy Land, we see people committed to justice and peace for themselves only, built on injustice and occupation imposed on others. We see one human being living at the expense of another human being. Although Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, died for the life of all. He died and rose from the dead, to give life for all, in order to enable everyone to triumph over death in him/herself, and
become a maker of life, justice and peace for oneself, his/her people, and all
the peoples of the earth. One should not live and another die. The life of no
one should be based on the death of the other.
This is what is happening today in Palestine and Israel, in
the Holy Land, the land of the Resurrection. The Israelis are asking the
Palestinian people to die, to disappear, so that the Israeli people can live.
The truth is, both should live as equal human beings.
The strong and powerful must realize that the life of a
people cannot be built at the expense of the life of another people. Israel
cannot be built and survive on the death of the Palestinian people, whatever
the claims, whatever the forces and weapons, and whatever the human plans. The
powerful people of this world, including Israel and the USA, must realize that
the big sums offered instead of the just solution do not wash away the
bloodshed, nor can they replace justice.
The Easter message, the Resurrection message, says to all:
those liberated by God cannot be made slaves by anyone. The message of
Resurrection says that a new human being can be born. A new man, a new woman,
not a maker of war or death, nor a life-seeker at the expense of the life of
another people. Israel can be this new being, who does not demand life at the
expense of the life of the Palestinian people. Palestine can also be this new
being, living free in dignity, sovereign, as all peoples of the earth
The Psalmist said: «He maintains the peace of your
frontiers, gives you your fill of finest wheat. He sends His word to the earth;
His command runs quickly” (147:14-15). But the question is, will the aggressors
allow God Almighty to make their borders peaceful and to satisfy all peoples,
to “fill them all of finest wheat”? Will the aggressors allow the word of God
to reach the hearts of all people, especially the hearts of the strong and the
powerful, so that Jerusalem truly becomes the city of the Resurrection and the
new life?
We celebrate the Resurrection in the Holy City. We hope
that all those all over the world who celebrate the Day of Resurrection will be
aware of the ongoing death and struggle in the Holy City of the Resurrection.
The oppressed seek refuge in God, and all the righteous in the earth.
Jerusalem, the city of the Resurrection, needs to be saved from ongoing death,
hatred and injustice imposed on its people. May new hope shine upon us, and a
new life begin in Jerusalem for all those who love Jerusalem.
Christ is risen. He is truly risen.
Patriarch Michel Sabbah
H.B. Patriarch Michel Sabbah served as the Archbishop and Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008. Patriarch Sabbah was ordained a priest for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in June 1955. He was a parish priest for a few years before being sent to the University of St. Joseph in Beirut to Study Arabic language and literature. Shortly thereafter, he became director of schools for the Latin Patriarchate. In 1980, he was named President of the Bethlehem University. In 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed him Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, making him the first native Palestinian to hold the office for centuries. Since 1999, Patriarch Sabbah has been the International President of Pax Christi, a Catholic organization promoting peace. Sabbah resigned as Patriarch in 2008. He is currently the Grand Prior of the Chivalric Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, one of the knightly orders founded in 1099.
Patriarch Sabbah is a co- author of the Kairos Palestine Document and believes
in pluralism and equality in order to preserve the dignity of human beings.
Kairos Palestine would like to thank all the contributors for their help on this Easter Alert.
A heartfelt thank you to Loay Sababa for the inspiring photos included.
Manjuyod/Canlaon City – “Sige na, sige na!” (Go
ahead, go ahead)
These words, followed by three shots – all she managed to
count in her panic – and Angenate Acabal knew her husband Valentin, 47, was
dead inside their home in Manjuyod town, Negros Oriental.
Some 125 kilometers north of there, around the same time, in
Canlaon City, ordered out of her home at gunpoint, Carmela Avelino heard a
shout in a mix of Tagalog and Bisaya: “Merong kalaban, nagsukol!”
(There’s an enemy, he’s fighting back)
Again, three shots and she knew Edgardo, 59, her husband,
was gone.
Next door, Ismael, Edgardo’s 53-year old brother, uttered
his last words, addressed to his 10-year old child, as his wife Leonora and two
youngest children, the other 5, were herded out their house by armed men:
“Indi pagpabay-i si Mama kag utod nimo.” (Don’t leave your mother and
sister alone)
As Leonora stepped outside their smashed door, she heard a
burst of gunfire.
Contributed photo shows a masked police commando during the
operation in Barangay Panciao, Manjuyod where three men, including village
chairman Sonny Palagtiw, were killed.
Contributed photo shows a masked police commando during the operation in Barangay Panciao, Manjuyod where three men, including village chairman Sonny Palagtiw, were killed.
As dawn broke on March 30, 14 men in all had died during
pre-dawn raids by police commandos – eight in Canlaon, four in Manjuyod, two
more in Sta. Catalina town – during what authorities initially called an
“anti-crime operation” but later acknowledged was targeted against suspected
communist rebels.
Even on an island beset by outbreaks of violence from an
insurgency fueled by the vast gulf between the hacienderos, the planters, who
own and control the vast sugarcane plantations that are Negros’ lifeblood and
the landless farmers and laborers who toil for them, the single day’s toll came
as a bad enough shock that Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo demanded police
explain why so many needed to die.
Police claimed all the dead were rebel assassins, members of the New People’s Army Special Partisan Unit or SPARU, all supposedly wanted for carrying out attacks on government forces, who were killed when they chose to shoot it out against officers serving arrest or search warrants. Malacanang stood by the police, insisting the operation was legitimate.
Never mind that many of the dead were in their 50s to late
60s, way too old to be the communist hitmen, who tend to be young, quick and
agile, police claim they were, and two of those slain in Manjuyod were elected
village chieftains – Valentin Acabal and Sonny Palactiw.
Of the eight men killed in Canlaon, one was a Catholic lay
minister and two – one of two father-and-son pairs – volunteer church workers.
As far as can be ascertained, only four of the dead – the
Avelino brothers of Canlaon, Franklin Lariosa of Sta. Catalina, and Steve
Arapoc of Manjuyod – belonged to peasant groups openly accused by state
security forces of supporting or being “legal fronts” of the rebels.
And only the Avelinos appear to have been engaged in any
recent activity that might have earned them the ire of authorities – the local
farmers’ organization chaired by Edgardo hosted a forum about residents of
neighboring Guihulngan City who had been displaced in December last year by a
police operation similar to that of March 30.
Incidentally, police gave both operations the same codename
– Sauron, the “dark lord” of The Lord of the Rings trilogy – with the March
operation dubbed “2.0”. And both
operations involved not local police forces but units under by the Central
Visayas police command based in Cebu City. Aside from this, the warrants were
also issued by courts in Cebu City, not in Negros Oriental.
The separate but almost uniform accounts of Angenate Acabal and
the Avelino widows, who do not know each other – as well as the stories the
families of other victims told human rights organizations – not only belied the
police accounts but, according to human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, who
visited the wakes of the three victims, showed “the most evil intentions,” the
carefully coordinated “state-sponsored killings” of activists and others deemed
“enemies of the state.”
All the stories begin in the dark before dawn – between 2
a.m. and 4 a.m. – with the sound of doors being smashed in and then armed men
in tactical gear, their faces covered in balaclavas and even dark glasses,
storming in, assault rifles aimed at stunned residents.
Angelate Acabal greets a visitor at the wake of her husband,
slain Barangay Candabong, Manjuyod caption Valentin Acabal.
Angelate Acabal greets a visitor at the wake of her husband, slain Barangay Candabong, Manjuyod caption Valentin Acabal.
Around 20 armed men burst into the Acabal household and
roused the 17-year old son who slept on a couch in the living room, ordering
him to kneel, his hands clasped behind his neck. It was a position he would
keep for more than two hours.
Other policemen then barged into the room where Valentin,
who was sick with the flu, and Angenate slept with their 7-year old daughter,
ordering them to kneel on the floor with their hands up.
“All three of us were praying and our daughter begged them
not to hurt us,” Angelate said after sending the girl to another room so she
would not have to listen to the retelling. “Then they grabbed and my daughter
and forced us out of the room.”
The last thing she heard Valentin say was a prayer: “Gino-o,
gitugyan nako kanimo ang tanan.” (Lord, I leave everything up to you)
For two hours, Angelate said she and her children were kept
under guard in the living room, not allowed near the room where her husband lay
dead, and accompanied even on trips to the toilet. It was only around 6 a.m.,
as curious villagers began to gather, that the policemen summoned two
councilmen. Only then did they show a search warrant and the .45 caliber pistol
the village chief was supposedly armed with.
Angelate said one of the policemen who guarded them asked
her what her husband’s name was. When she told him, “he shook his head and
said, ‘But in the blotter it was Eric’.” A copy of the warrant, which she
obtained later, did show it was for Eric, not Avelino, Acabal. Colmenares said
even if Acabal used to be called by his old nickname Eric, “the warrant should
reflect his real name, Avelino. This already makes it irregular.”
Shortly after, Angelate said, policemen from the town
arrived “but only to take away my husband’s body to the hospital even though it
was clear he was already dead” from at least seven gunshots, including one that
shattered his femur and genitals.
“There was no attempt to investigate the scene of the crime.
The (police) Scene of Crime Operatives only inspected his body at the
hospital.”
Senatorial candidate and human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares talks to Ray and Argie, sons of slain Barangay Candabong, Manjuyod captain Valentin Acabal.
Worse, said Arcabal’s son Argie, a Qatar Airways cabin crew
who flew home on learning of his father’s fate, “they took P30,000 I had just
sent home for home repairs and even P7,000 that my mother was keeping for our
church, of which she was treasurer.”
Meanwhile in Canlaon, Carmela Avelino was awakened by her
16-year old daughter’s shout for help and rushed out thinking a snake had
crawled into their house. As she got out of bad, “the curtains of our window
parted and I saw five rifle barrels aimed at us and a voice ordered us out of
the room.”
In the dirt-floor front room, “five policemen stood in line,
blocking me from my husband, while others ordered me and the children outside
and to go to community center next door.”
On their way out, they heard three shots from their house
and, moments later, more gunshots from Ismael’s house.
Carmela Avelino shows the spot where her husband Edgardo was
killed.
Carmela Avelino shows the spot where her husband Edgardo was killed.
Leonora said she and her two young children were awakened by
the commotion from Edgardo’s house and stepped out of their room to see their
door burst open as six hooded men in black entered and ordered them to lie on
the floor at gunpoint. They were then ordered out of their home and ordered to
crawl toward another house where they were kept under guard for the next three
hours.
Another Avelino brother, Efraim, rushed out of his nearby
house only to be grabbed by his neck and pushed back inside by a gunman in a
uniform of the police Special Action Force who ordered him back inside or “you
might be the first.”
Like Valentin Acabal, the bodies of the Avelino brothers
would be taken from their homes hours later, after daybreak, and taken to the
local hospital even though they had already been dead for hours.
A boot print can still be seen on the broken door of the home of Ismael Avelino in Barangay Panubigan, Canlaon City.
Edgardo had been shot in the forehead and right arm. Ismael
suffered at least five gunshot wounds. But unlike Acabal, who has not been
autopsied, the Avelino brothers underwent a post-mortem examination and had
their deaths classified as “homicide” by the Canlaon civil registrar.
Only after the ambulance had left were village officials
summoned and shown the warrants shown. Carmela said the warrant for Edgardo
gave his family name as “Marquez,” which is his middle name, and not Avelino.
She said the policemen then asked her to accompany them
inside the house and showed her a .45 caliber pistol lying in the pool of blood
where her husband had fallen and an M16 rifle they supposedly found by a
closet. A policeman also “returned” money taken from their home, only to find
out that P2,000 was missing from the original P5,000.
Post-mortem diagram showing the gunshot wounds that killed
Ismael Avelino.
Post-mortem diagram showing the gunshot wounds that killed Ismael Avelino.
A sister of the Avelinos, Azucena Garubat, was arrested for
allegedly possessing a .38 caliber revolver and remains detained at the Canlaon
police station, together with Corazon Javier, a coordinator of activist women’s
group Gabriela, who was allegedly found in possession of a rifle grenade. The
two were among 12 persons nabbed in the course of the March 30 operation.
Reacting to the accounts of the widows, Colmenares said it
was “clear the operations were irregular. The fact alone that they wore masks
to serve supposed warrants proves this. And there is also the total lack of an
investigation after the deaths, which indicates that the police have no
intention whatsoever to tell the truth about what happened.”
But while confident about the chances of successfully
prosecuting the police personnel involved in the bloody operation, Colmenares
said this would not be enough. “Public uproar is crucial to send the message
that enough is enough.”
He also said that ultimate responsibility for the March 30
deaths, as for the December deaths, lay with President Rodrigo Duterte, who
last year issued Memorandum Order No. 32, which ordered more police and
military personnel to the Bicol region, Samar island and Negros to “quell
lawless violence.”
Colmenares said the actions of Duterte and the police fell
into the “three patterns of evidence” he said were the bases for successful
prosecutions involving extrajudicial killings:
· “Public vilification, which establishes motive”; · “The brazenness with which the crime is committed”; and · “The complete lack of interest to investigate o prosecute”
COVER PHOTO: Leonora Avelino (partly hidden, top) talks to
visitors at the wake of her husband, Ismael, and his brother, Edgardo in
Barangay Panubigan, Canlaon City.
The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and its
member organizations, joined today the national and global day of protest to
demand justice for the 14 farmers killed in Negros Oriental and other farmers
killed in the whole country as well.
According to Antonio “Ka Tonying” Flores, chairperson of
UMA, this is the first time that such a coordinated action of protest actions
against killings of farmers has been organized against the US-Duterte regime.
Ka Tonying added that this is a clear message from the
national and international communities that they are fed up with the gross
human rights violations perpetrated by the US-Duterte regime against its own
people.
Some of the protest actions have already started. Protest
actions called, “No Justice, No Peace, Stop the Killings in the
Philippines!” were held inside the Hart US Senate Office Building and in
front of the Capitol building in Washington DC on April 8. This was organized
by the MALAYA: US Movement Against Killings and Dictatorship and for Democracy
in the Philippines.
In Sydney, Australia a protest action was held in the
Philippine Consulate on April 9 by the Philippines Australia Union Link (PAUL),
Migrante Australia, and Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) – Australia. Similar
protest actions are being held in various countries as well which was called by
the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
In Negros Island, where the 14 farmers were killed on March
30, simultaneous protest actions will be held in 4 areas of the Island on April
12.
Even as a National Fact Finding Solidarity Mission (NFFSM)
had been concluded in Negros Oriental on April 8 and its findings revealed to
the general public that the farmers were summarily executed, military
operations continue in Sitio Agho and Sitio Manggapa, in Masulog 1, Canlaon
City.
An Ecumenical Discernment Gathering on the May 2019
Elections
April 8, 2019, 8:30am to 12:00nn, Maryhill School of Theology
62 14th St, New Manila, Quezon City
Speakers And Topics
“Voting as Expression of our Faithful Action”
by Fr. Rico Ponce
Executive Director, Institute of Spirituality in Asia (ISA)
“The 2019 Elections: What to Look Forward to?”
Atty. Alex Lacson
Convenor, People’s Choice Movement (PCM)
“National Sovereignty as Election Agenda”
by Atty. Neri Colmenares
Chairperson, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers ( NUPL)
WHAT: Rehabilitasyon at Reklamasyon sa Manila Bay: Isang Forum para sa Makataong Rehabilitasyon ng Manila Bay WHEN: April 4, 2019 (1:30 PM – 6 PM)
WHERE: UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS), LG/F, Ang Bahay ng Alumni, Magsaysay Avenue, UP Diliman WHO: The Manila Bay Para sa Tao Movement (Kilusan para sa Makataong Rehabilitasyon ng Manila Bay) is a Metro Manila-wide movement comprised of a network of fisherfolk groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), students and environmental advocates who came together to campaign for a pro-people rehabilitation of the Manila Bay, and oppose the aggressive reclamation projects in the area.
On December 27, 2018, combined elements of the police and
military launched “Oplan Sauron,” a so-called “one-time-big-time” Synchronized
Enhanced Managing Of Police Operations (SEMPO) purportedly as part of
government’s efforts against illegal drugs and loose firearms in the Central
Visayas Region.
While Oplan Sauron was supposedly designed to cover the
entire region, its focus was on Negros Oriental particularly Guihulngan City
and the towns of Mabinay, Sta. Catalina and La Libertad. Oplan Sauron was effected
upon orders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Central Command
(CENTCOM). Mobilized for such purpose were around 3,000 composite troops of the
94th Infantry Battalion (IB) and 62nd IB of the 302nd Brigade of the Philippine
Army, in coordination with various units of the Philippine National Police
(PNP) such as the Special Action Force (SAF), Regional Mobile Force (RMF7) and
the Negros Oriental PNP Office (NOPO), including those from the Philippine Navy
and Philippine Air force who were either on stand-by mode or in the field of
action.
Oplan Sauron, however, did not run after criminals involved
in the illegal drugs trade but was rather a highly coordinated military and
police operation that targeted and employed illegal and brutal acts against
unarmed civilians belonging to legitimate peasant groups, farmers associations,
and local government units in the barangays. To justify the atrocities, the
victims were later falsely tagged by the military as armed rebels or members of
the NPA.
The real story behind Oplan Sauron
Initial reports from a fact-finding mission initiated by
human rights group Karapatan Negros claim that the Dec. 27, 2018 SEMPO or Oplan
Sauron resulted in the killing of 6 unarmed civilians, the synchronized conduct
and brutal pattern of which are described as follows:
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Panagtugas, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, fully-armed elements of the PNP and 94th IB forced their way
into the house of JIMMY FAT, 57, shooting the latter to instant death. They
dragged and hurled him out towards the front yard where his children were
assembled, then “planted” a .38 revolver and some bullets beside the dead body.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Punong, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB, together with 3 CAFGU personnel, raided
the house of JUN COBOL. Cobol immediately raised both his hands and kneeled to
let the assailants know that he was unarmed and was not offering any
resistance. Despite Cobol’s obvious gesture of submission, the armed men shot
and killed him in front of his wife, Benecia. They then carried the victim’s
body and heaved it onto their vehicle.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Kaingan, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB raided the house of JAIME REVILLA, a
community organizer, and shot the latter to death. They then “planted” a .38
revolver and some bullets beside the victim’s body.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Ilaya, Brgy. Hilaitan, Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB raided the house of RENEBOY FAT, a habal-habal (motorcycle) driver, and shot the latter to death.
• Around 7:00 am, in Sitio Malabyokon, Brgy. Buenavista,
Guihulngan City, the PNP, 94th IB and PAF raided the house of JESUS ISUGAN, 26
years old, a habal-habal driver and construction worker. The assailants asked
Isugan if he knew where a certain Tomas Isugan was. When Jesus answered in the
negative, the armed men dragged him towards the back of the house and shot him
to death in front of his wife, child, siblings
and father. They then placed the victim’s body inside a sack and tossed it by
the road.
• In La Libertad, Negros Oriental, GABBY ALBORO, a media
practicioner for the DYJL FM radio station also known by his media moniker
“Kumander Aguila,” was gunned down by armed men riding-in-tandem. Aside from
these incidents of extrajudicial killing, other rights violations were
committed by armed state forces during and after the December 27 SEMPO such as
the mass warrantless arrest of 50 unarmed individuals from 8 barangays most of
whom were “planted” with firearms and falsely identified as NPAs, illegal
searches of private dwellings in at least 5 barangays, expropriation of cash
and crops, destruction of properties and burning of homes;
The terror sown by Oplan Sauron and the continued presence
of military and police forces in communities have forced many residents, most
of whom are farmers, to evacuate, making it difficult for them to attend to the
land they till and for their children to go to school.
Local, national and even international rights groups and
people’s organizations have strongly condemned Oplan Sauron. The Archbishop of
the Archdiocese of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, The Most Reverend Bishop
Gerry Alminaza, described the climate of brutal repression on the entire Negros
Island as tantamount to martial law.
Statement of Teatro Obrero, cultural arm of National Federation of Sugar Workers in Northern Negros
Peasant cultural group Teatro Obrero strongly condemns the
one-time, big time demonic strike of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
assisted by the number one criminal in Negros Oriental, the Philippine National
Police (PNP). The March 30 killings in the island of Negros took away the lives
of 14 farmers in less than a day.
The series of killings in Negros Island is consequent to
Duterte’s declaration of Memorandum Order No. 32 or “de facto martial law” that
affects the lives and livelihood of many people, especially farmers and
farmworkers. The Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) implementation
or the one-time, big time attack of the AFP, PNP and other government troops
against the people caused severe militarization in the peasant communities in
the island of Negros.
Like what happened last year when 9 farmers were massacred
in Sagay City on October 20, 2018. Then, the killings of 6 farmers in
Guihulngan City on December 27, 2018 which were both perpetrated by state
forces. These resulted in the forcible evacuation of many farmers, synchronized
with arrests and filing of trumped-up charges.
The demonic demeanor of the fascist AFP and PNP troops are
also experienced in peasant communities of North Negros. Successive human
rights violations have intensified in numerous barangays in the cities of
Escalante, Sagay and San Carlso and towns of Toboso, Calatrava and Don Salvador
Benedicto in the past months and even at present.
At present, the continued attacks by the merciless and
heartless AFP, PNP-SAF, supported by their unreliable, money-making
intelligence reports, must be confronted with the massive mobilization of the
youth and the people to expose the rotten system that supports the big
landlords, capitalists and foreign investors, and to stop the countless attacks
that kill farmers and farmworkers.
Teatro Obrero calls on the youth, farmers and students
alike, to take a stand with the farmers and the people against human rights
violations and various attacks brought about by de facto martial law of the
US-Duterte regime. Integrate with the basic sectors, especially the farmers, to
obtain the truth amidst the enormous fake news flooding the internet and mass
media.
Teatro Obrero calls on the state forces, including of course
the patriotic and sincere members of the army and local police, to fullfill
their duty “to serve and protect” the Filipino people and not to harm and kill
farmers and farmworkers. The youth and the people are not ignorant of your
doings and can evaluate reality from fake or made-up stories.
Sisters register their support to the statement, Easter Manifesto, a Passover Meditation for the Filipino People which was discussed and approved during the Lenten gathering of the Religious Discernment Group, March 16, 2019.
We are soliciting your support to the statement, Easter Manifesto, a Passover Meditation for the Filipino People which was discussed and approved during the Lenten gathering and the participants had their name affix to the statement.
1. We are a
people whose living faith has seen us through critical periods in our history. Today, an even greater faith in a
merciful God and in ourselves as a nation is
called for. Obstacles that in the past have blocked our path towards
nationhood pale in comparison with
the amoral brutishness the relentless battering the Duterte regime is
subjecting the moral fiber itself of our people. The indomitable spirit of the
Filipino is under tremendous pressure. Political patronage is rampant. No
institution of our democratic system and no well-meaning individual have been
spared the smear of dirt the presidential snout untiringly spouts. Long
standing traditions of propriety and good breeding have been set aside.
Isinantabi ang delikadesang ating kinagisnan at pawang kagaspangan at kahalayan
ang ipinaiiral. (That sense of decency upon which we were raised has been set
aside; rudeness and obscenity have taken over.) The shady and secretive deals
our economic and political leaders have entered into with foreign powers are
compromising our sovereignty as a people.
No sector of Philippine society has been left unscathed and unmolested.
The Filipina is disrespected. Not even a statue in honor of the misnamed and
maligned “comfort women” has been left untouched. Children are by law (legal
maneuvers!) rendered criminals and are unduly punished.
2. We deplore the
shame that has befallen us. We denounce the morally bankrupt leadership of
Rodrigo Roa Duterte. We accuse him and his cohorts of unprecedented corruption,
enriching themselves by exploiting the poorest of the land – indigenous
communities, farmers, coconut growers, peasants, and laborers. They lie and
cheat with impunity. They perpetuate dynasties that enable a few families to
appropriate vast political and economic powers. They have prostituted our
democratic and cultural values. They have betrayed our trust. They have stolen
the future of the yet unborn Filipino by squandering at bargain prices our
country’s natural resources.
