Death rumors worry anti-mining activist

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—An anti-mining activist in Compostela Valley voiced fear for her safety in the wake of rumors she has been killed or abducted.

Belen Gallego, spokesperson of the Save Pantukan Alliance, said the rumors could be a prelude to something nasty being prepared for her.

“Why do they keep on reporting that I was killed when I am still very much alive?” Gallego said.

Gallego would not say who she suspects is behind the rumors but indicated that one such rumor originated in the Pantukan municipal hall last April 14 to the effect that she was dead.

She claimed that the people behind the rumors could be the same people behind the murder of her colleague, Santos Manrique, who had led his community against the entry of US-based Russell Mining and was killed April 12 in front of his wife and grandson while they were having dinner in his house beside the Pantukan highway.

”After Manrique, it is me they are after, but we will not yield Pantukan to foreign mining companies,” Gallego said.

Gallego said the latest rumor going around is that she was abducted on May 20.

Meanwhile, the Exodus for Justice and Peace decried alleged harassment by government security forces of 73 members of a Peace and Mercy Mission in Compostela Valley on May 21.

In a press statement, EJP said the mission was on its way to Pantukan after a fact-finding mission on Manrique’s killing in Barangay Kingking when they were stopped by police and soldiers manning a mobile checkpoint.

“We were falsely accused of carrying firearms. It was pure harassment against us,” the Rev. Angelico Confreros Jr. said.

Hanimay Suazo of Karapatan Southern Mindanao said the authorities ignored a written permit from Pantukan Mayor Celso Sarenas allowing the fact-finding mission.

“They ignored it and proceeded with their search. Under duress, our male contingent (disembarked) and raised their shirts to show that we were not carrying any arms,” Suazo said.

“We condemn this act of arrogance from the state’s law enforcing agencies, the PNP and the Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP). They can never silence or stop us from seeking justice,” said Bishop Modesto Villasanta, convenor of the Exodus for Justice and Peace.