Lumads, Catholic Church leaders slam Apec summit

President Benigno S. Aquino III walks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (C), China President Xi Jinping (front R), Hong Kong Chief Executive LeungChun-ying (back L) and Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto (back R) as they arrive for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders welcome ceremony inside the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila, Philippines.
LYN RILLON

MEMBERS of the lumad and the Church lit up their candles on Wednesday evening at Redemptorist Church in Baclaran to express their “burning resistance” to the ongoing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

It was also to show solidarity with people who are victims of militarization and plunder, said Kerlan Fanagel, community leader of the Blaan tribe and chairperson of Pasaka (Lumad organization in Southern Mindanao).

“Walang maidudulot ang Apec. Ito ay sistematikong patuloy na pang-aagaw ng lupain at yaman ng mga ninuno, he said.

The policies in Apec are not for the Filipinos but for globalization and privatization of entities, he said.

“Wala na tayong hawak or kontrol ’pag may de regulasyon,” he said.

Some 50 leaders of the Church and Lumad leaders marched a few meters from Baclaran church and took part in climbing the bell tower to unveil streamers and tarpaulin bearing messages of protests against the Apec summit.

Fanagel said that this resistance is not by the lumad alone, but with the broad population of the Filipino people.

The lumad members who are part of the Manilakbayan 2015, a protest caravan, were moved to Baclaran Church after their permit to rally was cut off by the government.

They are set to stage another rally against Apec on Thursday to assert their right to freedom of expression.

Father Teody Holgado, head priest of Baclaran Church, condemned the killings of the lumads.

“Ang walang saysay na pagpatay sa mga Lumad ay paglapastangan sa Diyos,” he said.

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