DAVAO City—A national solidarity group demanding an end to impunity will make a pilgrimage this month to Arakan, North Cotabato, where Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio served as parish priest in the last 26 years and where he was killed.
The groups, composed of Church people and human rights advocates, will start the three-day pilgrimage dubbed “International Appeal for Justice for Father Pops,” on November 26, to demand an end to impunity and an independent investigation of the killing of Tentorio and an Arakan farmer three days after the priest was killed.
Bishop Modesto Villasanta, convener of Exodus for Justice and Peace, said the interfaith groups want to draw international attention to the prevailing state of impunity in Arakan, which killed not only Tentorio but also a farmer named Ramon Batoy three days after the Italian priest was killed.
The pilgrimage will take place three days after the country remembers the second year of the Ampatuan massacre, which caught the world’s attention to the prevailing impunity in the country, and earned the country’s reputation as the world’s most dangerous place for journalists.
“Since the murder of Father Pops, human rights violations have continued unabated in Arakan as a result of militarization and the prevailing culture of impunity,” said the statement from the group calling itself Justice for Father Pops Movement.
The group also questioned the government’s sincerity in seeking justice for Tentorio while refusing to pull out military troops in Arakan they believed could be behind the killing.
“The military and the government through the DILG [Department of Interior and Local Government] Secretary Jesse Robredo has refused the request to pull out troops, leading us to question its sincerity in seeking justice for Father Pops while it continues to support the reigning culture of impunity that allows state forces to commit atrocities,” the group said.
The group blamed the killing of resident Batoy and the arrest of two more people in Arakan’s Barangay (village) Kabalantian on soldiers belonging to the 57th Infantry Battalion and 10th Special Forces assigned in the area.
The group is urging the people to petition President Aquino and Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to pursue an independent investigation on the killing of Tentorio and Batoy, and also to demand the release of Upper Lumbo sitio (settlement) leader Noli Badol and Batoy’s brother Celso, now being held under military custody. Both Badol and Celso were earlier reported to have been allegedly beaten and tortured by soldiers who killed Ramon.
The Justice for Father Pops Movement also demanded measures from the government to encourage witnesses to stand and testify despite fear for their life, a pullout of the military troops in Arakan and to put a stop to the recruitment of Lumad folk to Task Force Gantangan, a paramilitary group the soldiers reportedly created to guard mining and agribusiness companies but ended up “harassing and killing” fellow Lumad opposed to these companies.—Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao