Church leaders denounce attacks on migrant landowners in Kalinga

Kalinga-Apayao province (outlined in red). (Image from Google Maps)

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippines — Clergymen from various denominations have denounced the attacks on migrant landowners in Kalinga province that left at least two of them dead.

The Kalinga-Apayao Religious Sector Association (Karsa) said the latest victim, Gabriel Pasay-an, was murdered on Oct. 20 in Pinukpok town “by those who want to take his land from him.”

Pasay-an’s death was the third act of Kalinga violence arising from land conflicts in recent years, said Rev. Luis Aoas, the former Karsa chair.

He said one of the first two cases this year involved a Kalinga migrant who was shot dead days after a court decided a land case in his favor.

Police and officials in Kalinga have yet to confirm a pattern of assault against migrants.

Kalinga, a province in the Cordillera Administrative Region, has a population of 229,570 (based on 2020 census) composed mainly of about 17 tribal communities.

No known enemy

Over the years, many immigrant landowners in the province, particularly in Tabuk City, have decided to leave due to fears they would be assaulted because of their real estate properties, Aoas said.

In Pasay-an’s case, he said the landowner had no known enemy and it was “well-known that some people are trying to grab a part of his property.”

In a statement, Karsa said the Pasay-an murder was “totally unacceptable to the Christian community,” given that violence was triggered by “greed for a piece of land they do not own.”

“Karsa joins the family and the community in calling for the police to do its job and further investigate the killing to bring the killers to justice. If such killings are left unresolved and criminals roam free, what godless society will we be?,” it said.

‘Speak up’

According to Aoas, “fear and silence” gripped the migrant community “whenever one of them is murdered, deprived of his land or forced to pay exorbitant “multa” (fees).

If migrants rally around victims or targeted landowners and speak out, the situation would change, he said.

A group of people once tried to invade the estate of a migrant in Tabuk’s barangay Bulanao, which was foiled when the owner sought the help of village leaders.

“If we are afraid to stand up for ourselves and for others, then the injustices inflicted on migrants will continue… I still believe that good overcomes evil, and one of the means of accomplishing that is to speak up and stand up for one’s rights,” Aoas said.