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Posted: October 13, 2006 |
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Statement on the occassion of Tribal Filipino Week Celebration 2006 |
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ACTION ALERTS & UPDATES: Continuing harrassment and surveillance of CPA staff Justice for Rafael Markus Bangit! Justice to all victims of state terrorism MAY 2006 Updates on the surveillance and threats to Cordillera political activists APRIL2006 Updates on the surveillance and threats to Cordillera political activists |
The Children of the Cordillera in Metro Manila* is very much concerned about the plight of the indigenous peoples especially that of the Cordillera Region. Being far away from our homeland does not exempt us from feeling troubled about its worsening situation. The limited media we get hold of here only tells us only about half of the real story. We are so bothered by the continuous threat of mining companies in our rich lands. We are also alarmed by the killings that happened in our region. We are terrified by the fact that there is a total of about 1.4 million hectares of land being applied for by big and mostly foreign mining firms in the Cordillera. The big mines in Benguet which were put up during the American occupation of our country are dangerous precedents of what will happen in the near future. Benguet Corporation and Philex’s open pit mines destroyed entire mountains. Lepanto’s 70 years of operation in Mankayan, Benguet brought about land subsidence in some areas there and resulted in the toxic pollution of the Abra river where they dump their wastes. What will happen to other parts of our region if the mining companies plan to hold their operations there? Aside from today’s existing mines, explorations are finding their way in the provinces of Kalinga and Apayao and possibly most parts of the region. We wish for this widespread destruction to end once and for all. What also caused our anxiety were the killings of two respected Cordillerans for the last four months namely Rafael Markus Bangit and Alyce Omengan Claver. Both died serving the Cordillera people particularly the Kalingas and are active supporters and participants in the Cordillera peoples struggle in defending their ancestral land and self determination. Their deaths are part of the spate of killings we witnessed in the country since 2001. Like most of those killed, Alyce and Markus were unarmed civilians, innocent of any crime, and respected community leaders. Markus was a peacepact holder and a tribal elder while Alyce is the partner of Dr. Constancio Chandu Claver who was the main target of the assassination. Dr. Chandu is a doctor who not only cures infirmities but also the sickness of society. Therefore, we condemn such wanton disregard to the right to life and we believe that such acts will not result to peace but will sow terror to all citizens. We are also aware that there are other destructive projects which are imminent in the Cordillera. Large dam projects will surely push through because there are still extensive rivers flowing in the region. We also fear fully commercialized and corporate tourism which will surely conquer and subjugate the Cordillera people’s tourism industry. All these issues imperil our existence as indigenous peoples. These will hamper development efforts that are exclusively determined by Cordillera communities. The rich culture which we are proud of up to now will surely disintegrate given this reckless disregard to the importance of the land and the resources therein to our lives as indigenous peoples. We therefore call upon Cordillerans in Metro Manila to unite and bring to a close this gory situation. Let us pool all our efforts to come up with different forms of actions to spread the word about the real score of the Cordillera people and come about with programs that will help alleviate such conditions. Salakniban ti Daga ken Biag!!! Agbiag ti Kordilyera!!! Reference: *The Children of the Cordillera in Metro Manila or CHICO-MM is an alliance of different Cordillera youth organizations namely TAKDER, SATS-SBO, SKEP-CSMSJ, FERC Youth Organization, UP Anido. |