“He has shown you, O mortal,
what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to
love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” ( Micah 6:8)
- A verse from the Book of Micah
in the Old Testament that Fr. Tentorio himself liftedf. He requested for
this verse to be placed on his grave when he dies
“Fr. Pops is a staunch human
rights defender in North Cotabato since 1980. He launched series of
literacy and health programs serving the indigenous people and farmers in
the area. He supported the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) or House
Bill 374 and Anti-large scale campaigns.” Hanimay Suazo, Secretary General
of Karapatan Southern Mindanao Region said.
“Fr. Pops encountered a para-military group named BAGANI in 2003. Since
then, he received threats from the so-called paramilitary group who wanted
to kill him. BAGANI was formed and backed by military for the
counter-insurgency program dubbed Oplan Bantay Laya which was then
implemented by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.” Suazo said.
-- From the statement of
Karapatan - SMR
/p
/p
Photos courtesy of CAUSE, Paul
Crooks , Rolivel Elusfa, Carla Gipiga, Kalikasan Pne, Jonald Mahinay,
Karlos Manlupig, Omar Bantayan and Tolyts Sosmeña as indicated by the
filenames
x
Statement on the Ruthless Killing of Fr. Fausto
Tentorio, PIME
by Church Response Pcpr
October 17, 2011
You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you (Luke 13:34)
We express our deepest lamentation and indignant cry on the killing of a
priest, Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME.
There is not enough words to express our grief on the untimely death of
Fr. Tentorio, an Italian priest and missionary to the Lumad tribes of
Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. He was serving the indigenous people in
Mindanao since 1978 and was the head of the Tribal Filipinos Apostolate of
the Diocese of Kidapawan. He was gunned down in the morning of Oct.17 ,
2011 by helmet-wearing, motorcycle-riding gunmen.
We mourn with the PIME congregation and share with them the grief for the
lost of a priest whose ministry has been a greater testimony of how the
church can always be in the service of those who have been marginalized
and made poor by the system.
We grieve with the Lumads, and the indigenous peoples across the country
who has lost a man whose life has been a representation of hope, of
nurturing our dream , and working together in celebrating the diversity of
faith expressions but united in fulfilling the greatest commandment of
loving our neighbour.
At this time when alternatives to corporate-agenda of development mocks
the option of alternative, Fr. Tentorio dared to promote sustainable
agriculture and community-oriented development capacity-building programs.
He has been one with the Lumad community and a voice that criticized the
military operations. We are certain that it is not the will of God that
his life would be snuffed out from us in such undue time. His life, works
and ministry has been welcomed and embraced by the tribal communities. The
master who directs the bullets aimed at his head, chest and side has
lorded over his life, made him a sacrifice offered unto the altar of
injustice and hate.
We are greatly disturbed that killings happen and continuously happens
with impunity under the current administration of Pres. Benigno Aquino.
The pattern of killing of our beloved priests reminds us how the
activists, rights defenders, and church peoples were killed under Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo . The killing of Fr. Tentorio ushers in a very alarming
situation. He was the second church people killed under present
government. His death proceeded the killing Rabenio Sungit of United
Church of Christ in the Philippines, a staunch advocate and supporter of
justice, peace and integrity of creation. Fr. Tentorio is the 31s church
people and 2nd Roman Catholic victim of killings since 2001. We have but
one call, JUSTICE FOR FR. TENTORIO .
We demand the Aquino government to hasten the investigation and ensure
that justice is served. Stop Killing Our Prophets!
▲Mass for Justice. St. Paul de Apostle, along Timog and Mother Ignacia .
Concelebrated by nine priests including the superior of PIME.October 19,
2011, Justice for Fr. POPs Tentorio! ▼ PHotos by Tolylts Tadlo Sosmeña
x
RGS – WJPIC Statement of Protest
We, the Good Shepherd Sisters of Mindanao and the RGS-WJPIC Mindanao
Network, condemn the brutal killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, 59 years old,
an Italian Missionary Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) on
October 17, 2011.
We mourn the loss of a beloved missionary of 31 years, 28 of which had
been spent in Mindanao. With zeal, he pursued the service for the
downtrodden in Mindanao: the farmers and the indigenous peoples.
We decry this crime against a friend, defender and shepherd of the
Filipino poor and advocate of the environment. As a Christian country in
Asia, we deplore this act against a missionary who has embraced us as his
own people and uplifted so many for a better life.
We honor the courage and generosity of this follower of Christ in his
outstanding gift of service. He sought the education, the health and well
being of the peoples of this land, boasting of 3000 lumad and peasant
scholars served under his programs. He helped establish 10 Ata-Manobo
schools and a health program for the tribal peoples under the Tribal
Filipino Program Center for Development (TFDCI).
Under threat of the Alamora vigilant group since 2003, he continued his
prophetic work of being critical of development that harms and destroys
the legacy of the land for the indigenous peoples, being a staunch
advocate of anti-large scale and foreign mining. He engaged actively as
board member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and the
Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. He espoused and supported the
Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) or House Bill 374 as the change most
needed by the farmers for total human development and progress.
In this affront to peace, we call on President Aquino to stop the
political killings in this country, to cease the operation of Oplan
Bayanihan and to put an end to impunity and bring to justice the countless
victims of extra-judicial killings.
We challenge the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and the Department of Justice to conduct immediate
investigation and prosecution of those responsible for this cowardly act.
We urge peace loving Filipinos to join the Church-led “Justice for Father
Fausto Tentorio Movement” to release the flood gates of justice and
integrity. Fill the streets with marches and songs, prayer vigils, candle
lighting and drum the beat for truth to come out free and victorious.
x
Religious Discernment Group (RDG) Statement
On The Killing of Rev. Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME
“Greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his
friends” (John 15:13)
Fr Fausto Tentorio, (fondly known as Fr “Pops” to those who knew and loved
him), lived this passage from scriptures in his life as a priest until he
paid the ultimate price. On October 17, Fr. Fausto was brutally killed
when preparing to leave his parish for a diocesan meeting in Kidapawan.
Fr. Fausto was shot at close range 10 times, becoming yet another victim
of a motor cycle riding assassin using a 9mm weapon. The culture of
impunity which exists allows such brutal slayings to continue, with the
perpetrator casually riding off knowing that to date no one has been
convicted of any of the extra judicial killings. He becomes the 54th
victim of such killings under the Aquino Government.
Fr Fausto spent almost all of his ordained life in the Philippines. He has
lived the call of Vatican 11, to make his own “the joys and the hopes, the
grieves and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who
are poor or in any way afflicted because, these too are the joys and
hopes, the grieves and anxieties of the followers of Christ” (Church in
the Modern World, No.1). Since being assigned to North Cotabato in 1985,
he has taken to heart the joys, hopes, grieves and anxieties particularly
of the Monobos in the Arakan Valley. Here he served them providing
schools, day care, health services, sustainable agriculture and livelihood
projects for this people whom he loved so much. He was head of the tribal
Filipino Apostolate in the Diocese of Kidapawan. Fr Fausto believed in
community development which empowers the people. He therefore questioned
the so called “development projects” supported by the government and large
foreign corporations, such as plantations and mining, seeing they were not
for the good of the people. He became a vocal critic in defending their
rights and the integrity of mother earth.
We condole with the people of the Arakan Valley who have lost a wonderful
priest and friend. We condole with his Congregation, the Pontifical
Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) who has lost a faithful member. We
thank God for the prophetic life of Fr. Fausto who left all, including
Italy, his country of birth, to follow Jesus until death. We as religious
are challenged to follow this prophetic stance of Fr. Fausto and be
prepared to “lay down our lives” for the poor and oppressed no matter what
the cost.
We condemn the brutal killing of Fr. Fausto and call on the Government to
break the prevailing culture of impunity and make all effort to charge and
convict his brutal murderer. As religious, faithful to the life of Jesus
and the teachings of our Church, we will follow his example and not rest
until there is justice not only for him but for all victims of extra
judicial killings.
National Clergy Discernment Group Statement
On The Killing Of Rev. Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME
The Man Who Embraced the People Till His Death
We, members of the National Clergy Discernment Group (NCDG) join the
people in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, in mourning following the evil
murder of Fr. Fausto Tentorio. The NCDG adds its voice to the condemnation
at this latest treacherous assault on churchpeople.
It is an irony that during the indigenous peoples month of October, a
great advocate of the Manobos has been brutally shot and killed.
Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad (KALUMARAN) said in its statement that Fr. Fausto
had criticized the military for its operations in the community and
pronounced the "peace and development" programs in Arakan Valley as
contrary to the aspirations of the people. He has stood firm against
agri-business plantations and other corporate business interests in the
area. His work has brought anger among local tribal dealers and government
officials who want to reap profits from the ancestral domain of the Manobo
and other tribes in the area. In 2003, Fr. Fausto was almost killed by
paramilitaries but he was defended by the community.
Fr. Pops as he was fondly called by the people he loved so much was an
‘ordinary priest’ who lived an extraordinary life. He died an
extraordinary man mainly because he chose a life that touched so many
ordinary people who came to love him in return. He lived for others.
We give thanks for the life and witness of Fr.Fausto, and all the martyrs,
and all those struggling to resist the injustice and killings that
happened because the reign of impunity has not ended even with the promise
of the Aquino administration.
We hope we can ponder the message of Fr.Fausto, hear the cry of the poor,
and continue to take a courageous stand for justice and peace to prevail.
Fr. Fausto’s martyrdom will not be in vain. We will follow his example and
not rest until there is justice not only for him but for all victims of
extra judicial killings.
For Reference:
Fr. Jose P. Dizon
Convenor
nationalclergydiscernment2009@gmail.com
Tel. No. 0920-9081994
▲Digos City- around 20 religious leaders like pastors, priest, Ustaj and
their members has gathered for candle lighting and ecunomical prayer in
Freedom Park, Corner First Crumb Street, Digos City, October 23, 2011 at
5:00 o’clock in the afternoon. ▼
Citizens
Alliance Unified for Sectoral Empowerment- Davao del Sur (CAUSE-Davao del Sur)
c/o GSTC, Aplaya, Digos City
cause_ds@yahoo.com
Press Release
October 24, 2011
Religious leaders seek justice for Father
Pops killings
Digos City- around 20 religious leaders like pastors, priest, Ustaj and
their members has gathered for candle lighting and ecunomical prayer in
Freedom Park, Corner First Crumb Street, Digos City yesterday, October 23,
2011 at around 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon. They seek justice for the
demonic extra-judicial killing of Father Fausto Tentorio, PIME, an Italian
priest who was killed last October 17, 2011 in his convent at Arakan
Valley. He was gunned down by the unknown assailant with suspicion that he
is an element of 73rd Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army.
Father Alan Joy Nuñez of Roman Catholic Church said that we praying for
justice of Father Fausto which he is a good man while Pastor Daniel
Palicte of United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) said that we
express our sympathy and to the indigenous people and farmers who really
knew and love Father Pops. He is very helpful to the indigenous people’s
communities by giving them alternative education and health services.
In Malalag, Davao del Sur during the
holy mass in UCCP of the same day at around 9:00 o’clock in the morning,
Pastor Vincent Ortiz initiated the prayer for Father Pops and many church
members have expressed their sympathy and condemnation to the
perpetrators.
Moreover, Wilmar Moncado, Chairman of
CAUSE-Davao del Sur said that this is a very appalling which President
Benigno Aquino is a religious yet church leaders have been harassed and
killed. The President must take action on this because this is an
international issue which the government could not protect the religious
people from other countries Moncado adding.
Pastor Palicte said that President Aquino must end these killings of
impunity which he inherent from the previous administration because our
country is popularly known as Catholic country but killings against the
church people are continuing.
Reference:
Domingo Billones- 0946-341-7361
Secretary General
x
Press Release
October 19, 2011
Rights group condemn brutal killing of Priest
human rights defender
Davao City- Karapatan Southern Mindanao Region strongly condemns the
brutal killing of Priest human rights defender Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio,
PIME, 59, an Italian Missionary, last October 17, 2011 at around 7:30 am
in Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan, North Cotabato.
Fr. Pops was on his way to Kidapawan City for a clergy meeting when an
un-identified gunman wearing a helmet shot Fr. Pops using 9 mm caliber
pistol. Fr. Pops sustained 10 gun shots wounds on his body causing his
sudden death.
“Fr. Pops is a staunch human rights defender in North Cotabato since 1980.
He launched series of literacy and health programs serving the indigenous
people and farmers in the area. He supported the Genuine Agrarian Reform
Bill (GARB) or House Bill 374 and Anti-large scale campaigns.” Hanimay
Suazo, Secretary General of Karapatan Southern Mindanao Region said.
“Fr. Pops encountered a para-military group named BAGANI in 2003. Since
then, he received threats from the so-called paramilitary group who wanted
to kill him. BAGANI was formed and backed by military for the
counter-insurgency program dubbed Oplan Bantay Laya which was then
implemented by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.” Suazo said.
“The brutal killing of Fr. Pops reminds us human rights workers on the
brutal killing of rights worker Beng Hernandez nine years ago who was
killed by soldiers on April 5, 2002 in Arakan. Under Oplan Bayanihan of
the US-Aquino administration, Fr. Pops is the 54th victim of extrajudicial
killings nationwide” Suazo added.
“This is one of the achievements under Peace and Development Outreach
Program (PDOP), a twin-result of the deployment of the liquidation teams
or squads deployed in Arakan to kill Fr. Pops and other human rights
defenders and civilians in Peace and Development Team (PDT) areas of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).” Suazo said.
Karapatan challenges the local government unit in North Cotabato, US-Aquino
government and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct sincere and
immediate investigation on the killing of Fr. Pops.
Karapatan calls the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
panel to push the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) to
investigate on the killing of Fr. Pops and prosecute or punished the
culprits.#
FOR REFERENCE:
Hanimay Suazo
Secretary General
KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao
Contact No. 09294014945
Oplan Bayanihan implementors, PNoy government
responsible for the killing of Fr. Tentorio - Karapatan-SMR
Davao City – “The revelation of a fellow Italian missionary priest on the
inclusion of Fr. Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio, PIME, in the military’s Order of
Battle list exposed the fact that extra-judicial killings and other forms
of human rights violations continue to be committed with utter impunity
under the Aquino government,” concluded Hanimay Suazo, Secretary General
of Karapatan Southern Mindanao.
Suazo said this after Fr. Peter Geremia, a colleague of Fr. Tentorio, told
the members of fact-finding mission team that both of them were included
in the military’s Order of Battle list.
“Based on fact-finding mission report, the killing of Fr. Pops Tentorio
happened during the time when the military under the 57th Infantry
Battalion was conducting their Oplan Bayanihan activities,”
Presented in yesterday’s tribute to Fr. Tentorio, the Fact-Finding Report
revealed that weeks before Fr. Tentorio was killed, daily surveillance was
conducted by suspicious-looking men.
Suazo said surveillance activities on known leaders and supporters of
legitimate organizations who are critical to anti-people and
anti-environment policies, projects and programs is one of the activities
of the government’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan other than
psychological warfare, deception and vilification of legitimate and
progressive organizations as ‘enemies of the State’.
Suazo added that Fr. Tentorio had constantly been receiving threats
because of his support to the lumads and farmers in their struggle for
land rights and against ‘development aggression’ and militarization which
made him target of harassment and vilification campaign from the military
and paramilitary groups
The Karapatan leader stressed the circumstantial evidences that point to
state security agents as primary suspects of the brutal killing of Fr.
Tentorio.
According to the fact-finding report Fr. Tentorio was already targeted by
‘Baganis, a paramilitary group created by 73rd Infantry Battalion under
the 10th Infantry Division, since 2003 when he almost lost his life.
“The killing of Fr. Tentorio in broad daylight shows that perpetrators
still think that they can get away with their crime. The utter failure of
the Aquino government to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of
extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations fuel further
violations committed by state agents. And we hold the Aquino government
accountable for this,” ,” said Suazo
Based on Karapatan’s monitoring, Fr. Tentorio is the 54th victim of
extra-judicial killings (EJK) and the first EJK victim from the Roman
Catholic Church under the Aquino government.
Aquino’s continued mouthing slogans of “daang matuwid” and “respect for
human rights and international humanitarian law” could no longer cover up
the increasing number of human rights violations under his government,
especially with the implementation of his version of counter-insurgency
program Oplan Bayanihan.##
For reference:
Hanimay I. Suazo
Secretary General
KARAPATAN Southern Mindanao Region
Mobile number: 0929-401-4945
Soldiers strafe community, kill farmer, and arrest 2
others in
Kabalantian village, Arakan, North Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines
(initial report)
UA No: 2011-10-03
UA Date :
22 October 2011
UA Case :
Arbitrary killing; indiscriminate firing; illegal arrest and detention;
forcible evacuation; threat, harassment and intimidation
Victim/s :
Arbitrary killing
Ramon Batoy, male, 35 years old
o Married with 2 children
o A tenant farmer of Antipas Vice-Mayor Van Cadungon
o Supporter of Bantay Kalikasan of Mt. Sinaka
Illegal arrest and detention; Physical assault
Noli Badol, male, 35 years old
o Married with children
o Peasant leader
Celso Batoy, male, 47 years old
Threat, harassment and intimidation; indiscriminate firing; Forcible
evacuation
Gina Batoy, female, 33 years old
o Married to Ramon Batoy
o 6 months pregnant
Evelyn Badol, female, 32 years old
o Married to Noli Badol
o 8 months pregnant
48 families, residents of Sitio Upper Lumbo, Kabalantian village, Arakan,
North Cotabato
Place of Incident :
Sitio Upper Lumbo, Baranggay (village) Kabalantian, Municipality of Arakan,
Province of North Cotabato
Date of Incident :
20 October 2011
Alleged Perpetrator(s) :
Armed elements of the 57th and 38th Infantry Battalions of the Philippine
Army, and the 10th Special Forces Airborne
Account of the Incident:
On October 20, between 7-8am, some soldiers of the 57th Infantry Battalion
of the Philippine Army forcibly entered the house of farmer Ramon Batoy,
35. The soldiers accused Batoy as a member of the New People’s Army. When
Batoy resisted, a soldier hit him with the butt of a rifle. To defend
himself and his family, Batoy struck the soldier with his bolo, instantly
killing the latter.
Three soldiers, one of them with a mask, fired at Batoy, his house, and
seven other houses nearby. Ramon’s six-months-pregnant wife, Gina, escaped
with their daughter and son.
An eyewitness saw a soldier strap a rifle on Batoy and then took pictures.
Ramon’s neighbor, Noli Badol, 35 and a peasant leader, was also mauled and
tortured by the soldiers. Noli’s legs and hands were tied. Noli’s
eight-months-pregnant wife, Evelyn, and their children, tried to come to
Noli’s aid and pleaded with the soldiers, but were shot at by the soldiers
three times.
Soldiers also mauled and detained Celso Batoy, 47. Noli and Celso were
also accused as NPA members and are detained at the military detachment as
of this writing.
The house of Ramon’s brother Roger Batoy was one of those strafed by the
soldiers. Roger, who was inside his house with his wife and stepmother,
was reportedly wounded in the foot by bullet fragments.
The incident caused terror among community members that resulted to the
evacuation of at least 48 families. The residents evacuated to Binoongan
Elementary School.
Lt. Col. Joven Gonzales, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion
immediately announced to the media that an encounter took place in Arakan
town around 5:45 a.m. while the soldiers were conducting “a clearing
operation.” He told the media that the operation was “legitimate” and that
Ramon Batoy, Noli Badol and Celso Batoy were NPA members.
Karapatan-Southern Mindanao learned that the 57th IB forced Badol, who was
tortured, to say on radio that his neighbour Ramon Batoy was an NPA.
Ramon Batoy’s remains lies in state at the Arakan Municipal Gym.
A quick reaction team composed of Karapatan members and other human rights
advocates are currently looking into the incident.
Recommended Action:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation
team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church,
local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into
the incident in Sitio Upper Lumbo, Kabalantian village, Municipality of
Arakan, North Cotabato, which led to the killing of Ramon Batoy, the
arrest of Noli Badol and Celso Batoy, and the forcible evacuation of 48
households from their homes.
The immediate release of Noli Badol and Celso
Batoy from unjust detention.
The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders
and innocent civilians as “members of front organizations of the
communists” and “enemies of the state.”
The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan
Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civilians
The Philippine Government to be reminded that
it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it
is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is
bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.
You may send your communications to:
H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph
Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
osec@opapp.gov.ph
Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
Email: osnd@philonline.com
Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email: soj@doj.gov.ph
Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com
Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government
officials, to our address below.
URGENT ACTION Prepared by:
KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
National Office
2/F Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts., B
rgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Email: urgentaction@karapatan.org
Website: www.karapatan.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For immediate release
News Release
October 18, 2011
Reference: Cristina Guevarra, Hustisya secretary general, 0949-1772928
“Justice should be served swiftly”
Victims organization calls for immediate investigation on Italian priest’s
killing
Victims organization Hustisya today called on the Department of Justice to
“leave no stone unturned” on the investigation of the killing of Fr.
Fausto Tentorio, 59, an Italian missionary priest who was gunned down
yesterday morning in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato.
“We share the loss of the community whom Fr. Tentorio served, and
celebrate the life he had devoted for the small ones for more than half of
his lifetime,” Hustisya secretary general Cristina Guevarra said.
Together with other human rights organizations, the group held a mass
action today at the Department of Justice (DOJ) bearing the calls “Justice
for Fr. Tentorio! Stop the killings! End Impunity!”
DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima has reportedly ordered the National Bureau of
Investigation to investigate on the killing of the Italian priest.
Fr. Tentorio, a member of Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME)
based in Rome, Italy, was parish priest of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in
Barangay Poblacion, Arakan Valley. He had been in Mindanao since 1978, and
was head of the Tribal Filipinos Apostolate of the Diocese of Kidapawan,
North Cotabato.
“Justice should be served swiftly, not only because the people of Mindanao
lost a true servant and shepherd. More than that, ruthless killings of
people who stand up to the rights of the people such as Fr. Tentorio will
continue until perpetrators are punished,” Guevarra said.
The group reiterated that of the thousands of victims of extrajudicial
killings since the Macapagal-Arroyo governments, none of the perpetrators
have been punished.
Fr. Tentorio’s killing will add up to the 50 victims of extrajudicial
killings under Pres. Aquino. ###
JUSTICE FOR FR. FAUSTO "Pops" TENTORIO MOVEMENT
by Neng Mahinay
October 19, 2011
"If God accepts the sacrifice of my life,
may my death be for the freedom of my people ... A bishop will die, but
the Church of God, which is the peo-ple, will never perish." ---Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador
Interview, a couple of weeks before his assassination.
Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME, 59 y.o., was born on January 7, 1952. He
is an Italian Missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions
(PIME).
Fr. Pops as he is fondly called, lived in the
Southern Philippines, for 33 years, more than half of his lifetime as a
missionary for the lumads.
He was assigned in the Zamboanga in 1980
before he was assigned in Ara-kan in 1983. Since then he has launched
literacy and health programs/missions serving the indigenous peoples and
farmers in North Cotobato. He has initiated a Health Program under the
Tribal Filipino Program Center for Devt. Inc (TFDCI).
Here lived dutifully and with fervour the
church credo of serving the poor and the needy, gaining the love of
hundreds of lumads and farmers whom he had served through the various
programs and missions he initiated.
To date, there are 3,000 lumad and peasant
scholars who benefit from his educational programs and scholarships.
He heads around 80 daycare centers in in
Arakan, Tulunan, Antipas, Makilala, Mlang, all municipalities in North
Cotobato with indigenous pop-ulations. He also supports 10 Ata-Manobo
schools in Ta-laingod, Davao Del Norte.
Fr. Pops is deeply loved by the peasants and
lumads for his sincere and genuine soli-darity with their cause.
As a foreign missionary, he painstakingly
learned Visa-yan, the vernacular , in order to establish closer ties with
the people.
His simplicity and candid character made him
trustworthy to many of his colleagues in IP-Peasant work.
Fr. Pops learned throughout the years that no
amount of carabao, plough, will end the poverty-stricken lives of the
peasants and lumads he vowed to serve. Instead, Fr. Pops believed that
only social jus-tice --- the peasant’s quest for land and genuine land
reform, the respect for lumads’ culture and right to self-determination
would be his and the church’s greater contribution to their strug-gle and
deliverance from oppression.
Fr. Pops is the Board Member of the Rural
Missionaries of the Philippines Southern Mindanao and the Mindanao
Interfaith Services Foundation .Inc. He has helped found the Association
of Progressive Peasant Organization (APPO ) and the TIKULPA or the
TINANANON- KULAMANON LUMAD-NONG PANAGHIUSA, peasant and lumad
organizations.
Fr. Pops’ Near Death Experience
In 2003, Fr. Pops had a near – death
experience with the vigilante group Ala-mara – Bagani, a paramilitary
group which was created to eliminate alleged members and leaders of
progressive organizations.
He was the compatriot of martyred Italian
priest Fr. Tullio Favali, PIME who was slain by Edilberto Manero in 1985
amidst the crackdown on alleged com-munists and supporters of progressive
groups during the Marcos Dictatorship.
Fr. Pops is the 1st Roman Catholic priest slain under the Aquino govern-ment.
Nationally, he is the 54th victim of the Aquino government’s coun-ter
insurgency plan, Oplan Bayanihan.
WHAT WE CAN DO:
1. Join and Support the Church – led “Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio,
PIME Movement.”
2. Offer masses and prayers for Fr. Pops in your own par-ishes,
congregations, communities etc.
3. Express grief and calls for justice by ringing church bells, lighting
candles, joining or launching prayer vigils, and other activities
drumbeating the call for justice and for the end of impunity under the
Aquino government.
4. Write the Aquino government, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
the Philippine National Police (PNP) to demand justice for the killing of
Fr. Pops and other vic-tims of EJK.
STOP THE KILLINGS OF CHURCH LEADERS & OTHER PEOPLE’S LEADERS! END
IMPUNITY!
A STATEMENT OF GRIEF, A CALL FOR JUSTICE
Fact-Finding Mission Statement On The
Killing Of Italian Priest Father Fausto „Pops‟ Tentorio
October 20, 2011
“Defend
the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the
oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of
the wicked.”
PSALM 82:3-4
We, representatives and leaders from Catholic and Protestant churches,
faith-based institutions, advocacy groups, academe, health institutions,
the youth sector,
indigenous peoples, and peasants have come together in response to the
KILLING OF FATHER FAUSTO „POPS‟ TENTORIO, PIME and went to a FACT-FINDING
MISSION IN ARAKAN, NORTH COTABATO on October 17, 2011.
The MISSION was the quickest possible response of the Exodus for Justice
and Peace, along with peace advocates and human rights defenders, friends
and colleagues of Father Pops in an effort to pursue justice while we are
in deep grief.
Ours is a time when people still languish in suffering and oppression. A
time when peasants do not own the land they till and indigenous people
driven away from their ancestral homes. It is during these times when
people, like Father Pops, who lived with the poor and the landless, and
who would eventually stand
up with them for more than 30 decades, are targeted and killed.
Father Pops has chosen the missionary‟s life he knew would not be easy or
would later endanger his
life. He knew he would be persecuted. But he knew better, he continued to
offer and dedicate his life
to the lumads and peasants.
The brutal killing of Father Pops proved that Oplan Bayanihan was far from
being a peace and development program, that it was rather just a
sugar-coated continuation of the blood-stained counter-insurgency Oplan
Bantay Laya 2, that claimed thousands of innocent lives including church
people.
Thus, an interfaith, church-initiated and
independent FACT-FINDING MISSION to Arakan Valley was carried out. Now, in
behalf of those who joined, we now present, the MISSION findings and
conclusions:
•
That Fr. Fausto Tentorio was shot to death between 7:15 – 7:30 in the
morning of October 17, 2011 at the garage area within the compound of
Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan Valley, North Cotabato Province.
Witnesses saw the presence of men in military uniform near the crime
scene. Fr. Fausto sustained multiple gunshot wounds on the chest area and
one fatal shot on the head that caused his instantaneous death. His
lifeless body was found beneath the Suzuki gray vehicle by Rosita Nabreda
(caretaker) only at around 8:00 am when she was about to throw some
garbage;
• That on the night of October 16, some of the staff noticed the incessant
barking of dogs within
the compound between 8-11pm which was very unusual to them. And also that
night they have
seen two (2) military vehicles patrolling around the village;
• That on October 15, while Fr. Fausto along
with Jun Lubiano (head of the parish formation and catechism) passed-by
Sitio Kamanugan after serving a funeral mass at Brgy. Dalag, they saw the
police confiscated 1 sack filled with long firearms brought by a civilian.
But then they only knew that the military owned the firearms when a
certain Capt. Espiritu contacted the police and ordered not to hold the
firearms, thereby claiming its ownership;
• That before Fr. Fausto was killed, church
workers observed the presence of unfamiliar fish vendors everyday coming
in and out within the parish compound for two months. Likewise, a daycare
teacher also noticed a strange man who was always looking for Fr. Fausto
and his whereabouts. The man was observed visiting the parish for about
six times consecutively every 2:00-3:00pm within the period of
January to August this year;
•
That it should be recalled that on June 12, 2009 about 3:45pm the parish
was illegally searched by 9 elements of 57th Infantry Battalion wearing
full battle gear as they wrongfully accused Fr. Fausto assisting sick and
wounded New People‟s Army (NPA) member;That Fr. Fausto used to sit in the
Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) of Arakan, but since 2007, the
commander of 57th IB requested to pull him out because of the priest‟s
opposition to combat heavy military operations that has been targeting
civilian communities. He was also against the formation of Barangay
Defense System (BDS) and
military encampments of schools. He was also a staunch advocate for the
environment who was helping the community folks in their opposition to the
entry of large-scale mining companies and encroachment of agri-industrial
plantations in the area; and
• That the near-death experience of Fr. Pops on October 6-7, 2003 that he
narrated himself, established that he was targeted by the paramilitary
group called “Bagani” (a group organized by 73rd IB to run after the NPA
and suspected supporters) but he was able to survive with the help of
almost 300 lumads in Kitaotao, Bukidnon.
Hence, the MISSION believes that the killing of Fr. Pops is premeditated
and a well-planned state-sponsored vigilante- style killing. It happened
at the onset of the approval of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of
the proposal of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to deploy more
military and paramilitary troops in the communities where there are strong
local opposition to mining operations.
The MISSION believes that Fr. Pops is a VICTIM OF THE REIGNING STATE OF
IMPUNITY. This recent brutal killing exposed the continuing policy of the
state on eliminating human rights defenders, peace and justice advocates.
Fr. Pops‟ death has further exposed Oplan Bayanihan‟s deceptive slogan of
„peace and development.‟ The killing of Fr. Pops is an example of the
truth that the military‟s peace and development teams are a machinery to
protect the interest of large-scale mining and agri-industrial
corporations that cause environmental plunder, economic dislocation and
displacement of indigenous peoples and peasants.
The MISSION has also heard the people‟s cry in the hinterlands of North
Cotabato. Testimonies reveal that 'Peace and Development' Outreach Program
(PDOP) under Oplan Bayanihan of the Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP has
nothing to do with genuine peace and real development. These Peace and
Development Teams (PDT) are in communities as part of a grand scheme to
pacify the people's economic struggles and their opposition to
government‟s anti-poor policies.
Almost six months ago, the Exodus for Justice and Peace also conducted a
National Peace and Mercy Mission to investigate on the killings of peasant
leader Rudy Dejos and his son in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur and
anti-large-scale mining leader Santos “Ricky” Manrique in Pantukan. The
Dejoses and Manrique were staunch critiques of the military and government
policies. The mission results reveal the killings were also
state-sponsored.
At this point, the MISSION puts forward the following recommendations:
1. Pursue an independent investigation. Push
for and facilitate case build-up, and expedite the prosecution of the
perpetrators;
2. Create an atmosphere that would encourage
witnesses to come out and stand for justice. Prepare and provide sanctuary
to witnesses to ensure their safety and welfare;
3. Immediately pull-out all military
detachments and encampments in the affected areas. Stop the militarization
in the country-sides, especially in areas targeted for mining explorations
and operations and agribusiness plantation expansions;
4. Stop the vilification campaign against
leaders, members and supporters of legitimate and progressive
organizations who are critical to anti-people and anti-environment
policies, programs and projects and to militarization under the
counter-insurgency plan Oplan Bayanihan;
5. Dismantle the Task Force Gantangan that
continues under Oplan Bayanihan of the Aquino government program. The
group recruits lumads to guard mining concessions, agribusiness
plantations and other corporate activities. These paramilitary groups
harass, threaten, and even kill fellow lumads and their supporters who
stand in defense of the ancestral domain and oppose the exploitation of
natural resources;
6. Call on the Aquino government to stop the
cycle of violence in ancestral domains and rural communities by taking
back his approval of the proposal of the AFP on mining firms funding and
organizing their own paramilitary units to secure their operations;
7. Submit the mission report and seek
appropriate actions from national and international human rights entities,
legislative bodies like the Philippine Senate and the House of
Representatives and Roman Catholic Church institutions such as the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Vatican.
We are here in grief and we are also here in faith – that justice must be
pursued. Fr. Pops‟ missionary life did not end with his death – he died to
live with us and share to all of us the life he offered to the poor and
the landless.
Father Pops knew we will not fall deaf or would close our eyes to the
people‟s cry and suffering. He knew we will speak out to condemn all that
has caused the misery of people. Let us then take the challenge, seek
JUSTICE FOR FATHER POPS! Let us join the journey, and call on others to
take on Fr. Pops‟ mission to help the poor and the oppressed and encourage
them to rise as one in our quest for a just and lasting peace.
JUSTICE FOR FATHER FAUSTO „POPS‟ TENTORIO! “Let justice roll on like a
river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Amos 5:24
JUSTICE FOR FATHER FAUSTO ‘POPS’ TENTORIO MOVEMENT
Luis Tatad St., Dumanlas, Buhangin, Davao City
justiceforpops@gmail.com
+63 82 273 2669
+63 918 570 2647
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God,” Micah 6:8
- A Bible verse from the Book of Micah in the
Old Testament Father Pops lifted himself. He requested for this verse to
be placed on his grave when he dies
=
==
x
NEWS RELEASE
19 October 2011
For Reference: REP. LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN 0920-9213221
Jang Monte (Public Information Officer) 0917-4049119
FR. TENTORIO’S DEATH IS A CALL FOR PNOY TO
RECALL GO SIGNAL FOR MINING MILITIAS -ILAGAN
“The killing of Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio is an outrage. It is proof of
the Aquino government’s failure to curb extrajudicial killings, it is
evidence that the culture of impunity continues under his term and that
advocates for social justice and human rights remain targets under Oplan
Bayanihan.”
This was the statement issued today by Gabriela Women’s Party
Representative Luz Ilagan, following the death of Italian missionary Fr.
Fausto Tentorio, Monday morning at the Mother of Perpetual Help Church in
Arakan, North Cotabato.
According to Ilagan, the death of Fr. Tentorio, a known anti-mining
advocate, further contributes to the extremely volatile situation in
Mindanao, a region already teeming from unrest with continuing
militarization and human rights violations related to large scale mining
operations.
“The death of Fr. Tentorio should compel President Aquino to rethink his
position on the entry and approval of large scale mining operations and
the move to allow mining companies to train militias. This is a strong
call for the President to seriously look into extrajudicial killings,
especially those involving environmental and anti-mining advocates and
activists.”
“We will see no end to the violence and the bloodshed for as long as the
Aquino government refuses to listen to the legitimate demands of Lumads,
indigenous communities and peasant communities being displaced by mining
operations.”
The Gabriela solon who also hails from Mindanao has long known Fr.
Tentorio as a staunch advocate for peasants and Lumads.
“Fr. Tentorio worked closely with various activist and non-governmental
organizations in bringing services to Lumad and peasant communities in the
region. He has been vocal in his opposition to large scale and destructive
mining operations that displace Lumad communities. His death shall serve
to further his cause.”
GABRIELA WOMEN'S PARTY
NEWS RELEASE
October 25, 2011
Ref:
Rep. Emmi De Jesus, 0917-3221203
Rowena Festin, 0915-6349308
THE LEGACY OF FR. TENTORIO STAYS WITH THE PEOPLE –
GWP. REP. EMMI DE JESUS
“While Gabriela Women’s Party grieves with the people, and the women and
children of Arakan Valley who benefitted from the schools he helped build,
and who were touched by the life of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, we are also
demanding for justice not only for Fr. Tentorio, but for all the victims
of extra-judicial killings and conflicts caused by social injustice,” said
GWP Rep. Emmi De Jesus as hundreds of people in Mindanao and Manila march
today to send Fr. Fausto to his final resting place.
“Fr. Tentorio represented the dreams of elusive peace of the marginalized
people in Mindanao. But in his death, the perpetrators failed to kill him
because he has already shared his life to hundreds of people who needed
light in the midst of darkness and hopelessness in Mindanao. His death
fanned the desire of the people to continue working harder for a just and
lasting peace in Mindanao and the whole country,” added De Jesus.
“The way Fr. Pops was murdered unmasked the culture of impunity that has
pervaded the country. And we will not be caught surprised if more
advocates of the rights of the marginalized Filipinos will fall victims of
militarization and extra-judicial killings until the roots of conflict ---
landlessness, poverty and social injustice—are genuinely addressed,” ended
De Jesus.
--
Representative EMMI DE JESUS
Gabriela Women's Party
"Babae, Bata, OFWs at Bayan.... Tuloy ang Laban!"
x
Press Statement
October 17, 2011
RURAL MISSIONARIES CONDEMNS THE KILLING OF
FR. FAUSTO TENTORIO
We, members of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines- Southern
Mindanao Region (RMP-SMR), condemns in the strongest possible terms the
dastardly killing of our beloved board member, Father Fausto “Pops”
Tentorio,PIME which happened at around 7:25am of October 17 , 2011 at the
Mother of Perpetual Help Parish Church grounds.
He died from the 10 gunshot wounds fired by two motorcycle-riding men as
he was about to board his vehicle for a clergy meeting in Kidapawan City.
Fr. Pops, as we fondly call him, has eluded the previous attempt on his
life by the Bagani paramilitary force under 73rd IB on 2003 in Bukidnon as
he visited parish projects for the indigenous tribe of Manobos in Kitaotao.
What is with Pops that these carriers of death want to snuff? What has he
done that meted his life? Who are these carriers of death?
Indeed, to many people who know his work as a priest administering to his
flock in Arakan parish, attending to his pet projects for the indigenous
tribes and peasant folks, the indigenous schools, sustainable agriculture
projects and health to serve the most marginalized communities of Arakan.
He has always been Tatay to them. Only evil people would want to stop a
man and a priest like that.
Long time ago, even as several PIME priests in the same mission had
already sacrificed their lives for the service of their flock in North
Cotabato, he still decided to work for the most marginalized, most
downtrodden people on his area of mission and those are the lumads of
Mindanao. And how dearly he embraced these people! He really delves deeper
to the core of the problem, in his inimical no-nonsense way but is
light-hearted and whimsical, imbibing the best part of the Filipino
masses’ character to his Italian upbringing and to his faith. That is
Pops’ way of endearing himself to the masses, breaking the barriers of
race, language and creed to be able to truly serve.
He also knew that the core to the problem in the North Cotabato area is
about the land-grabbing by giant transnational corporations in cahoots
with the national and local government officials from the time of former
President Cory Aquino to her son President Noynoy Aquino .
The ancestral domain of the indigenous people not only of the North
Cotabato but thousands of hectares of forest reserve and wildlife
conservation lands as well as cultivated lands by peasants from Moro,
non-Moro, Christians, and lumad brothers of far south and Central Mindanao
would be gobbled up by a massive development plan including the open-pit
mining of Xstrata and SMI giant mining firms with notorious track record
of destruction to nature in Australia and South America and the recent one
who wanted to operate is in Arakan, the Kumakata Mining Corporation.
The people’s organization TIKULPA, which Father Pops helped organized,
protested the massive militarization, the red-baiting of the AFP against
progressive lumad and peasant leaders, the logging operation and the
subsequent expansion of rubber plantations in the area.
Father Tentorio had devoted himself to the service of indigenous peoples
especially of their defense to their right to ancestral domain and their
right to life. It is this commitment that gravitated him to the RMP-SMR
program for the peasant and indigenous people’s services, from literacy
program to sustainable agriculture in the areas of North Cotabato and
Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley for the Manobos and Mandayas.
He had supported the struggle for Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill. He
energized fellow religious persons, personal friends and even his family
to join in supporting his programs and projects.
Maybe no one knew the identities of the helmeted assailants. But the
paramilitary forces under 73rd IB of the Philippine Army have openly
declared he is a target needed to be ‘cleared’ in their desire to remove
protesters in the plantation expansion in the area in 2003 when they
nearly killed him in Kitaotao,Bukidnon .
He had been vocal against the open-pit mining encroaching the area from
South to North Cotabato . From the Oplan Bantay Laya to Oplan Bayanihan,
the so called campaign for ‘peace and development’ forces of North
Cotabato have continuously targeted the lumads and consequently targeted
Father Pops. He had consistently received death threats as well as his
fellow priests in the mission. They fell another staunch fighter in the
name of Fr.Fausto Tentorio.
We, from his laypeople and staff of the Rural Missionaries of the
Philippines-SMR and from all the schoolchildren and teachers deeply mourn
his death. He would be so sadly missed. But he had sown the seeds for the
next generations of fight for long lasting peace, justice and genuine
development.
We hold the Aquino administration responsible for the killing of Fr.
Fausto Tentorio!
We demand the Oplan Bayanihan be totally pulled out from the countryside
of Mindanao!
We demand the swift justice for Fr. Tentorio’s death! Stop Extra-Judicial
Killing now!
For reference:
Sr. Julieta Encarnacion, m.a.
Regional Coordinator
RMP-SMR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 22, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
Peasants, Lumads in Davao mourns over death
of Fr. Tentorio and a farmer in Arakan, vow to seek justice
DAVAO CITY-- In the commemoration of October as peasant month, Kilusang
Magbubukid sa Pilipinas- Southern Mindanao Region(KMP-SMR) spearheads
caravan and march rally on October 20-21 here calling justice for Fr.
Fausto "Pops" Tentorio,PIME who was shot dead by believed to be agent of
the state in Arakan, North Cotabato last October 17, 2011.
Over three hundred farmers from all over the region joined the series of
activities which has a culmination program at Rizal Park, Davao City on
Friday, October 21.
"It is very ironic that we are commemorating October as peasant month but
one of the staunch peasant and lumad advocate, Fr. Pops was gunned down by
believed to be agent of the State and human rights violations against
peasantry and lumads in the country sides due to militarization continue
unabated," decried KMP-SMR Chairperson Pedro Arnado.
Reports reaching KMP office that in just three days after the brutal
killing of Fr. Pops in Arakan, peasant Ramon Batoy in Sitio Upper Lumbo,
Brgy. Kabalantian, Arakan was killed and riddled with bullets by military
soldiers under 57th IB of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on the
mere suspicion that he is a member of the New People’s Army.
According to the reports, on October 20, 2011 at around 7am, military
soldiers under 57th IB insised to enter the house of Ramon Batoy, 35. When
Batoy resisted, he was buttstoked by the military and trying to defend his
family he struck the soldier with his bolo. Three soldiers nearby riddled
Batoy with bullets and strafed the farmer's house and the 7 other houses
nearby. Batoy's wife who was 6 month pregnant managed to escape with her
daughter and son.
"This is a very mournful peasant month for us farmers with this continued
practice of Extra-Judicial killings and relentless human rights abuses
against hapless civilians, farmers, lumads, church people and members of
progressive organizations in the country. The AFP, alongside with its
Commander-in-Chief President Noynoy Aquino, must be held responsible for
this barbaric acts," said Arnado.
Apparently, the 57th IB and other AFP units in Arakan who justified their
presence in the area through the Oplan Bayanihan's Peace and Development
Teams (PDTs) have gone far in sowing terror and mistrust among the peasant
and lumad people. "The real color of the PDTs is now unfolding before our
eyes, the killings and the human rights abuses are manifestations of
PNoy's fascist regime which is no different from the previous government
that imposed fascist, undemocratic and anti-farmer policies," Arnado
added.
"As we condemn the killing of Fr. Tentorio, the killing of Ramon Batoy and
other human rights violations inflicted by the military against the
peasantry in Arakan, we also condemn the incessant attacks against the
peasants in our struggle for land, genuine agrarian reform, justice and
lasting peace," Arnado stressed.
The death of Fr. Tentorio and others that fell as victims of Oplan
Bayanihan are one of the reasons that strengthen the people's movement
against state fascism and tyranny. Thus, we urge the people to keep aflame
the struggles for genuine freedom and liberation.
With this, the Filipino peasants under KMP vow to seek justice no matter
how elusive and affirm its continued militant struggle for land and the
right to till.
"As we raise our fists, we enjoin our fellow Filipinos to stand by our
side as we continue the struggle for social justice, genuine land reform,
freedom and liberation, Arnado concluded.
Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio! Justice for Ramon Batoy! Justice for all
victims of Extra Judicial Killings! Justice for all victims of human
rights violations! Prosecute the hatchet men in ranks of the AFP!
Land for the peasantry! Fight for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill! Long
live the tillers of the land!
Signed:
PEDRO ARNADO
Chairperson
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas – Southern Mindanao Region
Contact: 0910-226-1000
x
Press Statement
October 19, 2011
He knew he would die of the bullets from his
enemies
"They may cut our tongues but they cannot silence us. They may shackle our
hands but they cannot stop us from raising our fists. They can kill the
protester but they cannot kill the protest."
Father Pops whose name is etched on the hearts and minds of the lumads and
peasants of Arakan Valley North Cotabato was slain last Monday. Griefs all
over the region is ringing louder. Condemnation of his death is coming
from various sectors. Father Pops knew that he would die of bullets.
Who would benefit when a people’s voice like Father Pops is silenced?
How could the presence of the elite military unit Airborne Special Forces
during the day of the death of Fr. Pops have not stopped nor brought
second-thoughts on the gunman who have done the killing with confidence?
Fr. Pops was not new with death threats from paramilitary groups.
According to his account published on PIME's website, in October 2003, he
was being hunted by paramilitary group, 'Bagani' created by elements of
73th Infantry Batallion of the AFP for their counterinsurgency program,
but Fr. Pops were helped and saved by villagers living in Kitaotao,
Bukidnon from his near death experience.
Elements of the military, particularly in the areas of Arakan Valley,
North Cotabato, endlessly conducted operations against the people,causing
turmoil, fear, and even tagged lumad members of Tikulpa as New People’s
Army rebels. Fr. Pops has helped found Tikulpa or the Tinananon-Kulamanon
Lumadnong Panaghiusa.
In 1985, his compatriot Fr. Tullio Favali was also gruesomely murdered by
a paramilitary group led by the Manero brothers created by the Armed
Forces of the Philippines. Fr. Pops condemned the military atrocities
against the lumad and the peasants.He even assisted in fetching the body
of human rights activist Beng Hernandez who was slain by military elements
of the 57th IB. , like the human rights defenders he have helped and
assisted Fr. Pops is now the 54th victim of extrajudicial killing under
the fascist regime of PNoy.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines who should earn the moniker the Armed
Fascist Pigs (AFP) with their so-called Oplan Bayanihan is the one who
murdered Fr. Pops Tentorio,PIME.
The AFP have on their hands the blood of activists, church-people and
human rights defenders.
Who would forget the massacre in Arakan Valley, wherein they murdered Beng
Hernandez, and tagged her as a member of the revolutionary NPA? Who would
forget the death of Sunshine Jabines from which military camps in
Baranggay halls, churches and even in schools that endanger the lives of
the people? Oplan Bayanihan has been a killing program of the Aquino
government disguised in the rhetorics of Peace and Development. These
military continues to inflict injustice upon the people.
They might have silenced one of the people’s voice, but they’ve given
voice and rage upon thousands of peasants, lumads, and people who will
demand justice for Fr. Pops. The youth, and other sectors of the society
will continue to intensify the people's clamor for genuine freedom and
national liberty which Fr. Pops, like other martyrs of the struggle have
carried on.
Let us join and support the Justice for Fausto Tentorio, PIME Movement and
continue calling for justice to all victims of extrajudicial killings
perpetrated by the state agents. Let us take the challenge to fight
back,end the culture of impunity and continue the legacies of martyrs and
heroes like Fr. Pops. Bullets may silence them, but it will never silence
the struggle. ###
For Reference:
Joselito A. Lagon Jr.
Regional Spokesperson
LFS – Southern Mindanao Region
0908 286 8479/ 0923 369 8490
KABATAANG MAKABAYAN Likens Fr. Pops to
Internationalist Norman Bethune
Official Statement of Kabataang Makabayan Southern Mindanao Region
Land for the tillers. This is the principle of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, fondly
called Fr. Pops by the people he selflessly served. In his three decades
of missionary work in the Philippines, he was able to establish various
programs on education, health and other social services for the Lumads and
the peasants in Arakan, Valley, North Cotabato.
Fr. Pops was consistent and steadfast in serving the Lumads in Arakan. He
had helped put up 80 day care centers reaching municipalities of Tulunan,
Antipas, Makilala, Mlang and the rest of North Cotabato. Most of the
students are Lumads and peasants.
In actively helping the Lumads and the peasants, Fr. Pops did not only
give support to them, he gave them education and helped them voice out
their continuing struggle for their ancestral domain. He is clearly a
threat and an enemy to the eyes of the government and its Armed Forces as
he stood firmly in opposition of the state’s anti-people programs and
policies.
After continued harassments and countless threats to his life as
consequences of his undying advocacies for the Lumads, peasants and
progressive groups, Fr. Pops was killed last October 17. The culprits were
no other than the fascist executioners under the Armed Forces of the
Philippines operating in Arakan, North Cotabato. Fr. Pops is the 54th
victim of the US-Aquino administration’s counter-insurgency program – the
Oplan Bayanihan that continues to target those critical to the government
including church leaders like Fr. Pops.
Fr. Pop’s three decades of unwavering struggle for the rights of the
oppressed was finished with only ten bullets of the fascist military
agents.
Let this brutal killing reminds us of the life he has offered to the
masses. In the same way that we are reminded of the life and struggle of
another internationalist Norman Bethune, a Canadian physician who served
the Chinese in the course of their revolution. Bethune was a member of the
Communist Party of the United States of America. He was not discouraged by
the long distance of stride just to help in the defensive war against
Imperial Japan. Bethune died a martyr serving the Chinese people.
The spirit of Norman Bethune is the life that Fr. Pops showed us – a life
of an internationalist with a selfless and wholehearted service to the
people and their struggle for genuine democracy and liberation.
The life that Fr. Pops offered to the indigenous peoples and Filipino
peasants challenges the church people and the youth today. An Italian
missionary never doubted to serve the Filipino masses. The church people’s
active engagement in the struggle of the oppressed is the living legacy of
Fr. Pops.
Service to God does not end within the walls of the churches. Service to
God involves a commitment in serving, loving and upholding the rights and
welfare of the least of His people.
The spirit of internationalism showed by Fr. Pops is worthy of
emulation.Kabataang Makabayan will strengthen the call to serve the
people, to take on the highest form serving the oppressed– to join the New
People’s Army!
Justice for Fr. Pops! Youth, serve the people! Join the New People’s Army!
###
Fr. Pops: Ang Bethune sa Pilipinas
Opisyal nga pahayag sa Kabataang Makabayan Southern Mindanao
Yuta alang sa nagtikad. Kini ang prinsipyo ni Fr. Fausto Tentorio nga mas
nailhan sa katawhang iyang gialagaran sa ngalan nga Fr. Pops. Sa iyang
tulo ka dekada sa Pilipinas isip langyawng misyonaryo, lain-laing programa
sa edukasyon, panglawas ug uban pang serbisyo alang sa katawhang mag-uuma
ug lumad sa Arakan Valley, North Cotabato ang iyang gipangulohan.
Si Fr. Pops usa sa mga nagapanguna sa hisgutanang pag tabang sa mga lumad
didto sa Arakan. Gani 80 na ka daycare centers ang iyang gitabangan apil
na ang Tulunan, Antipas, Makilala, Mlang ug sa tibuok North Cotabato ug
mayorya sa mga estudyante nag gikan sa mga Lumad ug mga mag-uuma.
Sa aktibong pagtabang ni Fr. Pops sa katawhang Lumad ug mag-uuma,
gihatagan niya og suporta, tingog ug edukasyon ang mga mag-uuma ug lumad
sa ilang pakigbisog alang sa yutang kabilin. Klarong usa siya sa kaaway sa
gubyerno ug sa Armed Forces niini diha sa pagbabag sa ilang
kontra-katawhan nga programa ug palisiya.
Human sa pipila ka katuigan nga dunay mga hulga sa iyang kinabuhi tungod
sa padayong pagtabang niya sa mga lumad, mag-uuma apil na ang mga
progresibong pundok, gipatay si Fr. Pops kaniadtong Oktubre 17. Ang mga
sad-an walay lain kundili ang mga berdugong elemento sa military ilalom sa
Armed Forces of the Philippines nga nadestino sa Arakan, North Cotabato.
Si Fr. Pops nahimong ika-54 nga biktima sa kontra-insurhensiyang programa
sa rehimeng Aquino – ang Oplan Bayanihan nga padayong naglutos sa mga
kritiko sa gubyerno susama sa lider-simbahan nga si Fr. Pops.
Ang tulo ka dekada nga pakigbisog ni Fr. Pops alang sa katungod sa
katawhang gidaug-daug, gihuman sa napulo ka bala sa berdugong elemento sa
militar.
Apan ang iyang nakalas nga kinabuhi subling nagpahinumdom sa atoa sa
pakigbisog usab sa usa ka internasyunalista nga si Norman Bethune, usa ka
doktor gikan sa Canada nga nag-alagad sa katawhang Tsino panahon sa ilang
paglunsad og Rebolusyong Tsino. Si Norman Bethune miyembro sa Partido
Komunista sa Canada. Kapin 50 anyos na sya kaniadtong gipadala siya sa
Partido Komunista sa Estados Unidos. Wala niya gipanumbalingan ang gikalay-on
sa iyang gibaktas aron tabangan ang gyera sa Pagpanalipod batok sa Hapon.
Namatay nga martir si Norman Bethune samtang nag-alagad sa katawhang Tsino.
Ang diwa ni Norman Bethune mao usab ang diwa sa kinabuhi ni Fr. Pops – usa
ka kinabuhi sa Internasyunalista nga mao ang ang kinabuhi sa tibuok
kasing-kasing nga pag-alagad sa masa nga walay pili ug pagdapig sa ilang
pakigbisog alang sa tinuod nga demokrasya ug kagawasan.
Ang iyang kinabuhi nga gihalad sa katawhang lumad ug mag-uuma sa Pilipinas
ang naghagit sa mga tawong simbahan ug kabatan-onan sa atong panahon karon.
Usa ka Italyano ang walay pagpanumbaling nga nag-alagad sa katawhang
Pilipino nga gidaug-daug. Ang pagbarog sa tawong simbahan ug sa uban pang
miyembro sa lain-laing kongregasyon aron mahimong tingog sa gidaug-daug –
kini ang pagtulun-an nga gibilin ni Fr. Pops.
Ang pag-alagad sa Diyos dili mahuman sa pagsangyaw, kini padayong
ginabuhat pinaagi sa walay puas nga pagpanalipod sa katungod sa dinaugdaug.
Ang diwang Internasyunalista ni Fr. Pops angay natong ipadayon. Pakusgon
sa mga kabatan-onan ilalom sa Kabataang Makabayan ang panawagan sa
pinakataaas nga porma sa pag-alagad sa katawhang dinaug-daug ang pagsampa
sa Bagong Hukbong Bayan!
Ipadayon ang pakigbisog ni Fr. Pops! Kabatan-onan alagaran ang katawhan,
sampa na sa Bagong Hukbong Bayan! ###
x
KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
26 Matulungin St. Central Dist., Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1100
Tel./Fax; +63 (2) 924-8756; E-mail: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org
Press Statement
17 October 2011
Killing of anti-mining Italian priest
condemned by environmental activists
Environmental activists under the Kalikasan People’s Network for the
Environment today condemned the recent killing of an Italian missionary
active in opposing large-scale mining plunder and advocating for
indigenous people’s rights in Mindanao.
“We strongly condemn the killing of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio.
Fr. Pops, as local folks fondly call him, is a man for the masses
particularly the indigenous people. Before the time of his death, Fr. Pops
and his organization, the Tribal Filipino Program of the Diocese of
Kidapawan, are very active in defending the rights of indigenous people
and protection of the environment from the entry of large-scale mining in
their area,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio and the TFP of the Diocese of Kidapawan are among the
most active advocates and staunch oppositionists to the foreign mining
project of Xstrata. The project plans to establish an open pit mining and
mine waste facility in Sultan Kudarat, one of the areas of concern of the
TFP, that will negatively affect the watershed and forests in the said
province. Fr. Pops was also very active on the issue of justice and human
rights. He was involved in the campaign for justice for killed human
rights leader Beng Hernandez, who was killed by the military on April 5,
2002 while she was conducting research on the human rights situation in
Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Arakan Valley during that time was the
mission area of Fr. Pops.
“Fr. Fausto is the sixth anti-mining advocate killed this year. Like
Palawan environmentalist Dr. Gerry Ortega and small-scale miners’ leader
Santos Manrique, all of them have opposed large-scale mining projects in
their areas. The Aquino administration should also be held accountable for
allowing this kind of tragic incident to happen. His failure to stop the
killings and give justice to the victims of human rights violations shows
his administration’s negligence and disregard to the persisting culture of
impunity in the country," asserted Bautista.
Based on Kalikasan PNE monitoring, the other anti-mining activists killed
this year are Rudy Segovia from Zamboanga, Florita Caya from Compostela,
and Rabenio Sungit of Palawan. None of the 36 other cases of killings
involving environmental activists since 2001 have been resolved to
date.###
--
CLEMENTE BAUTISTA
National Coordinator
Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE)
No.26 Matulungin St. Bgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1100
Tel. No. +63-2-9248756 Fax No. +63-2-9209099
Email: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org
KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
26 Matulungin St. Central Dist., Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1100
Tel./Fax; +63 (2) 924-8756; E-mail: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org
Press Statement
19 October 2011
Environmental activists cite similarity of
Italian missionary’s killing to previous Xstrata ‘murder by mining’
The probability of a murder motivated by a mining corporation with a track
record of human rights violations was considered highly likely today by
green groups under the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment in
the case of Fr. Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio, an Italian missionary who was
killed inside his convent last October 17, 2011.
“Fr. Tentorio was a staunch oppositionist to the entry of Xstrata’s
open-pit mining in one of their areas of concern. This and the fact that
he was already threatened by elements of the Bagani paramilitary group
under the 73rd Infantry Brigade indicate the likelihood that mining and
military is behind the killings,” said Clemente Bautista, national
coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.
The Swiss-owned Xstrata-Sagittarius Mines Inc. (Xstrata-SMI) multinational
mining corporation was previously involved in the 2009 killing of Eliezer
‘Boy’ Billanes, another environmental activist leader who exposed and
opposed the destructive Xstrata-SMI owned Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in
South Cotobato. Xstrata-SMI attempted to establish a large-scale mining
operation and mines waste facility in Sultan Kudarat, an area of concern
for Fr. Tentorio and his organization, the Tribal Filipino Program of the
Diocese of Kidapawan.
“Xstrata-SMI’s implication in the killing of Billanes in 2009 was linked
to the peace and security program agreed upon by Xstrata-SMI and the
military, which produced company-size militias similar to those that also
threatened Fr. Tentorio,” Bautista pointed out.
Fr. Tentorio is the 7th anti-mining advocate killed this year, with the
murder of radio commentator and tribal leader Datu Roy Quijado Gallego in
Caraga only last Sunday preceding his death. According to Kalikasan PNE’s
monitoring, the seven recorded extrajudicial killings this year under the
Aquino administration is the most that ever occurred in a year, out of a
total amount of 43 environmental defenders killed since 2001.
“With Fr. Tentorio’s murder breaking the record of most envi-defender
killings in a year, the Aquino administration is now officially the most
dangerous regime to environmental activists. Not one of the 42 previous
cases of killings before Fr. Tentorio has been solved, leading us to think
that the Aquino regime is an anti-people coddler of mining corporations
with atrocious human rights records,” ended Bautista.###
--
CLEMENTE BAUTISTA
National Coordinator
Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE)
No.26 Matulungin St. Bgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1100
Tel. No. +63-2-9248756 Fax No. +63-2-9209099
Email: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org
KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
26 Matulungin St. Central Dist., Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1100
Tel./Fax; +63 (2) 924-8756; E-mail: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org
For Immediate Release
25 October 2011
Environmental activists pledge to carry on
the struggle against mining plunder and militarization on Fr. Pops' burial
The burial of murdered Italian missionary Fr. Fausto 'Pops' Tentorio today
was marked with pledges by environmental defenders to carry on the
struggle against mining plunder and militarization. Remembering his
fearless stand for the right to land and life of peasants and indigenous
peoples, the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment vowed to
continue its advocacy against foreign large-scale mining and
militarization in the country.
“Fr. Pops' example will always be emulated by environmental activists for
his principled stand against destructive large-scale mining, even as it
threatened his life. We will continue his struggle against destructive
large-scale mining operations threatening the people of Arakan Valley and
various other mining-affected areas,” said Clemente Bautista, national
coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.
Tentorio is the seventh anti-mining activist killed in 2011, which is also
the 43rd case of an environmental defender killing recorded by Kalikasan
PNE since 2001. Previously threatened by elements from the Bagani
paramilitary group, a Special Civilian Active Auxiliary (SCAA) force under
the 73rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
Tentorio's killing is widely believed to be motivated by
corporate-sponsored SCAAs.
“SCAAs have previously threatened the life of Fr. Tentorio for his
opposition to destructive large-scale mining and other corporate interests
in his organization's areas of concern. This case is similar to the
killing of environmental leader Eliezer 'Boy' Billanes, who was killed for
his opposition to the operations of large-scale miner Xstrata-SMI in
2009,” Bautista pointed out.
Xstrata-SMI inked a peace and security program with the AFP's 10th
Infantry Division in 2008 that trained company-funded SCAAs tasked to
protect mining investments. These militia groups were linked to the
killing of Billanes, an environmental advocate who led the popular
opposition to Xstrata's Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in South Cotobato.
Meanwhile, Pres. Benigno Aquino III continued the trend of militarization
by approving the commissioning of SCAAs in Claver, Surigao del Norte. The
adminstration, under its counter-insurgency plan Oplan Bayanihan, continue
to organize AFP Investment Defense Force (IDF) which are tasked to protect
corporate interest and operations such as large-scale mining and
agro-chemical plantations in the country.
“PNoy's approval of paramilitary groups and employment of military forces
by foreign and private corporations will lead to more human rights
violations and killings. Paramilitary and military forces tasked to
protect corporate interest perpetrate a culture of impunity that serves
only to strengthen the Aquino administration's image as the most dangerous
regime to environmental defenders,” said Bautista.
“The primary task of the military is to protect the civilians and their
rights but under Oplan Bayanihan it is the other way around, it serves to
defend the abuses and violations of corporations against the communities
and people. The killings of anti-mining activists are the direct results
of this militaristic policy. If Aquino truly wants to stop the killings,
it should dismantle the SCAAs and the IDF and abandon Oplan Bayanihan,”
Bautista reiterated.###
x
PRESS STATEMENT
October 17, 2011
Mindanao IPs mourn death of "Fr. Pops",
missionary to the Lumads
Hold Aquino accountable
It is a great tragedy and irony that during the indigenous peoples month
of October, a great advocate of the Lumads has been ruthlessly shot and
killed.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, Italian priest and missionary to the lumad
tribes of Arakan Valley, died of multiple gunshot wounds this morning,
October 17, as he was preparing to go to a clergy meeting in Kidapawan
City. Initial reports of his death said the assailant is a helmet-wearing,
motorcycle-riding gunman, typical of the military death squads that
tainted the Arroyo regime.
Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad (KALUMARAN) holds responsible the Oplan Bayanihan
of President Aquino as the motivating force behind Fr. Tentorio’s death.
Fr. Pops, as he was fondly called, had criticized the military for its
operations in the community he embraced, and pronounced the "peace and
development" programs in Arakan Valley as contrary to the aspirations of
the people.
Fr. Pops worked with local indigenous peoples organizations to build a
school for Lumad youth in Arakan Valley and develop the local economy
through sustainable agriculture. Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa
(TIKULPA), a local organization which he and his staff have supported
through capacity building programs, has stood firm against agri-business
plantations and other corporate business interests in the area.
His work has brought ire among local tribal dealers and government
officials who want to reap profits from the ancestral domain of the Manobo
and other tribes in the area. In 2003, Fr. Pops was hunted down by Bagani
paramilitaries in Kitaotao, Bukidnon, but he was shielded by the community
and the threat was deterred.
The death of Fr. Pops is a continuation of the reign of terror in Lumad
communities that began under the Marcos regime and has persisted through
subsequent presidencies. Like his mother, Noynoy Aquino is pursuing a
low-intensity conflict strategy against those individuals and communities
that work for alternative, community-centered forms of development
preventing the entrance of foreign capital and big business in ancestral
domain areas and rural communities.
Fr. Pops death was preceded this year by the deaths of Lumad Higaonon
leader Datu Lapugotan and his nephew Solte San-ogan in Esperanza, Agusan
del Sur, as well as the deaths of Jimmy Arion, Nicomedes de la Peña, Sr.,
Nicomedes de la Peña, Jr., and Ruben Gatong in San Fernando, Bukidnon.
Lumad paramilitary groups formed and supported by the Armed Forces of the
Philippines are responsible for their deaths.
KALUMARAN condemns the killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio and holds the Aquino
regime accountable for this crime. The reign of impunity must come to an
end!
We condemn the killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, an Italian rural missionary
and indigenious people’s advocate, in Kidapawan City yesterday.
Fr. Tentorio, who has been serving the indigenous peoples in Mindanao for
around 30 years, is already the third of missionary from his order to be
killed in Mindanao. The other two are Fr. Tullio Favali who was killed by
a paramilitary group in 1985 and Fr. Salvador Carzedda in 1992.
We hold the Aquino government responsible for Fr. Tentorio’s death. This
latest killing of a human rights defender and a staunch anti-mining
advocate is another clear proof that extrajudicial killings persist and
are promoted by the Aquino regime.
There is reason to believe that the killing is related to the government
and military’s intensifying counter-insurgency program in Mindanao,
especially in mining areas, following the punitive action undertaken by
the New People’s Army against destructive mining firms in Surigao del Sur.
The Aquino government is using the military to uphold the interest of
foreign mining firms which are throwing national minorities out of their
homelands, driving farmers out of their lands, and plundering and
destroying the country’s natural resources.
The counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which is being disguised
as a development campaign of the Aquino government, is a program of human
rights violations and the killing of progressive leaders, activists,
church-people and civilians.
We demand that justice be immediately served for Fr. Tentorio. Concerned
agencies should immediately investigate the incident and prosecute the
perpetrators.
We demand an immediate end to extrajudicial killings and other human
rights violations and the junking of Oplan Bayanihan. We demand that
justice be attained for all victims of extra-judicial killings.
We also call on the international community to condemn this latest case of
extra-judicial killing and put pressure on the Aquino government to
immediately stop all forms of human rights violations in the Philippines.
Reference Person: Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general
Contact information: 0928-7215313
ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS
2/F Napoleon Pornasdoro Bldg., Mines St., corner Dipolog St., Bgy. VASRA,
Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax 453-9116 Mobile 0917-8502124; 0919-8198930 Email act_philippines@yahoo.com
Website www.actphils.com
Member, Education International
Press Statement
21 October 2011
Reference: Mr. Benjie Valbuena
Vice-Chairperson
0918-2399222
Ms. France Castro
Secretary General
0917-8502124
Media Liaison: Zenie Lao – 09198198903; 09174998608
Justice for Fr.Pops! End Impunity Now! – ACT
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemned and demand justice to
the brutal killing of anti-mining advocate and Italian missionary Father
Fausto “Pops”Tentorio.
“Teachers are alarmed on the continuing persecutions and killing of
individuals and organizations that serve and fight for the rights of the
people”, said ACT Secretary General Ms. France Castro. “The killing of Fr.
Pops, which is believed to be perpetrated by the state, serves as a bad
lesson to the students whom we are teaching to express, to stand for and
to fight for their and people’s rights.”
ACT Vice Chairperson Benjie Valbuena called on the Aquino government to
retract its earlier approval of the AFP’s proposal to deploy special
militia as security for large-scale mining firms. “In the light of Fr.
Pops’ killing, PNoy’s approval of special militia deployment will lead to
more human rights violations and extra-judicial killings among rights
defenders in the country,” Valbuena said.
Valbuena added that ACT strongly oppose the setting up of militias and
other paramilitary groups because of the many human rights violations
attributed to them and their military handlers. He also added that these
groups are also often used as private armies by political clans in the
provinces. “Like in the case of the Ampatuan, Maguindanao Massacre in
2009, some soldiers and paramilitary are believed to be and accused of
having participation in the massacre of 58 people, 32 of them media
workers,” Valbuena concluded.###
News Release
October 25, 2011
Reference: Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, 09209035683
Casiño on murdered Italian priest: 'Fr. Pops
was both a humble servant and a great, great man'
KIDAPAWAN CITY - Bayan. Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño today joined thousands of
residents of North Cotabato and surrounding provinces in paying tribute to
Fr. Fausto Tentorio, the Italian missionary killed last week by suspected
paramilitary groups.
Casiño arrived yesterday in time for a tribute given by people's
organizations and NGOs whom Tentorio worked with closely in his advocacies
for indigenous people's rights and the environment.
"In his humbleness and simplicity as the Lord's servant, Fr. Pops showed
that he was a great, great man. Isa lang ang salitang naiisip ko para kay
Fr. Pops - dakila. Isa siyang dakilang tao," Casiño said in his tribute.
"Habang napakaraming Pilipino ang pumupunta sa Italia para magkaroon ng
masaganang buhay, si Fr. Pops ay pumunta rito sa pinakaliblib na mga lugar
ng Pilipinas, kung saan napakahirap ng buhay, upang maglingkod sa
pinakamahihirap. Pambihira ang ganyang tao," Casiño added.
He expressed support for calls for an independent investigation into
Tentorio's death, saying the PNP and NBI were usually hesitant to fully
investigate cases involving the armed forces. "In the House, we have filed
a resolution to investigate the killing ourselves," he added.
He also slammed local military officials for laying the blame for
Tentorio's killing on the New People's Army. "That is the craziest idea
that people have heard in these parts. The AFP should stop sowing
intrigues and instead look into itself for the perpetrators of the crime,"
he said.
He said two angles should be seriously looked into by investigators:
Tentorio's opposition to the entry of mining operations in Arakan and
other lumad areas, and military suspicions that he was a sympathizer of
the New People's Army.#
March from Makilala to Kidapawan
City, North Cotabato ▼
Thousands of
people led by JUSTICE FOR FR. POPS MOVEMENT, while in a caravan heading to
Kidapawan Cathedral to pay their last respect for the slain priest,
stopped and staged protest action/picket rally in front of 57th IB
headquarters in Makilala, North Cotabato calling AFP Berdugo, the alleged
perpetrator of the cold-blooded killing the day before Fr. Fausto
Tentorio’s funeral. (PHOTO BY: JONALD MAHINAY)
Thousands of
people from various sectors led by JUSTICE FOR FR. POPS MOVEMENT, while on
their way to pay their last respect for the slain Italian peasant advocate
priest, march the streets of Kidapawan City to show their indignation of
the brutal killing calling justice for the missionary martyr of the poor
and the landless on Oct. 24, the day before the funeral. (PHOTO BY: JONALD
MAHINAY)
wan
x
National Democratic Front
FarSouth Mindanao Region
20 October 2011
Tribute to Fr Fausto Tentorio, the People’s Martyr
The National Democratic Front–FarSouth Mindanao Region salutes the
people’s martyr Fr.
Fausto “Pops” Tentorio who was mercilessly gunned down in his convent in
Arakan on October
17, 2011. We pay our highest tribute to this quintessential progressive
who served the people
selflessly and wholeheartedly for the greater part of his adult life in
the many remote places of
Mindanao, Southern Philippines.
We are one with the farmers and lumads and the entire people of Mindanao
in our grief for this
person who laid down his life serving the poor and marginalized. In
whatever way he can, for
more than three decades, Fr Pops did everything he can to serve the
poorest and most neglected
communities. Through his literacy, health, peasant organizing and
scholarship programs, he
touched the lives of thousands of farmers and lumads. Most importantly he
gave hope to so many
by teaching them to stand up and fight for their rights.
Fr. Pops became the model of all those he worked with– from his staff, to
the community
organizers and mass leaders who constantly looked up to him for guidance
and inspiration. He
lived simply. His undaunted optimism and patently good humor helped to
sustain all the
programs he initiated even during the most trying times, including an
attempt on his life in 2003
by lumad paramilitary fanatics under the employ of the 73rd IB.
His outstanding concern for the rural poor plus his advocacies for the
environment and against
large-scale mining and the encroachment of agribusiness plantations earned
for Fr Pops the ire of
the military who branded him as an NPA supporter and a Communist. He was
constantly under
surveillance. As a matter of fact, his convent was raided by elements of
the 68th IB sometime in
2006 which prodded him to file a complaint with the local government unit
of Arakan.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio’s murder is the most recent of the state-sponsored
extra judicial killings
which have eroded and mocked our justice system– where military death
squads roam the streets
freely and are never made accountable for their acts. This at a time when
the AFP claims to
“have respect for human rights and humanitarian laws” under Oplan
Bayanihan. Hypocrisy adds
insult to injury.
Fr. Pop’s untimely death strengthens our resolve to live and fight for the
noble cause of peace,
justice and freedom. The revolutionary movement shall not rest until
justice is fully served and
his death is vindicated.
The people will never forget you, Fr. Pops. You will always be our hope
and inspiration in
this long and protracted struggle for national democracy.
Fr. Tenorio’s killing reveals EJK as
continuing policy under US-Aquino regime
The National Democratic Front Southern Mindanao held the elements of the
6th ID-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP as responsible for the extra-judicial
killing of Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tenorio. As the military unit engaged in
active counterrevolutionary program of the US-Aquino regime operating in
North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Maguindanao and Saranggani, the 6th ID-EastMinCom
masterminded, orchestrated and executed the October 17 daylight murder of
Fr. Tenorio in Arakan, North Cotabato. The 6th ID-EastMinCom has the
mandate from the Aquino administration to implement the GPH’s Oplan
Bayanihan, a carry-over of the Arroyo regime’s Oplan Bantay Laya that
similarly targets civilians like Fr. Tenorio.
Listening to the automatic repertoire of lies spewed out by EastMinCom
spokesperson Col. Leopoldo Galon, Jr. who readily condemned the murder and
see it as a consequence of Fr. Tenorio’s advocacy which affected many
entities and individuals, there is no doubt that the AFP is fast shedding
its belabored human rights and peace façade to get outright results:
silenced critics, terrified populace, and a new stage-managed friendly
image of the armed forces. Staggering from recent successful NPA military
actions under its turf--from the high-impact punitive sanction against
mining firms in Surigao, to various tactical offensives in the field since
last year, and to the custody and eventual release of detainees and
prisoners of war—the EastMinCom-AFP shifts to manuevers that it knows
best: hitting innocent civilians and non-combatants. Fr. Tenorio is only
the latest victim to the AFP’s campaign of annihilation of vocal Lumad
advocates and staunch critics in Mindanao, intensifying as the year comes
to a close. And he would not be the last.
Thus, the marching orders of Noynoy Aquino to get Fr. Tenorio’s killers
appear hollow, meaningless in the face of the AFP’s deceitful countenance
and the Oplan Bayanihan. It is certain that the Aquino regime not only
tolerates, but still adopts the policy of physical elimination of
civilians by military elements. This is the same government that allows
the continued tyranny of warlords, private armies and paramilitary groups
at the payroll of companies and despotic landlords, and the massive
militarization in North Cotabato. This is the same regime that is adamant
in full-scale capitalist incursions in the countryside, through
large-scale mining and foreign-funded agri-business, despite the
resistance of Lumads and civilian groups.
Fr. Tenorio’s murder heralded the re-emergence of open fascism as the
state’s preferred response in the face of the rising discontent of the
masses and intensifying people’s war. Fr. Tenorio’s brutal killing reveals
Noynoy Aquino, himself as an able replacement of the fascist and hated
Gloria Arroyo, as the country’s chief implementor of the US doctrine
Counter-insurgency guide.
Here in Southern Mindanao, and elsewhere nationwide, the AFP cannot wait
to show its continuing contempt for human rights. Holding the badge of
Oplan Bayanihan, the AFP holds hostage hundreds of thousands of civilians
in the countryside who suffer from intense military operations
smoke-screened as 'peace and development’ projects. It attempts, but fails
miserably, to rectify the past crimes against humanity perpetrated by the
Arroyo regime. The Aquino regime has neglected to punish the AFP officers,
intelligence agents, elements and units responsible for the extrajudicial
killing of more than a thousand activists in the last decade.
The NDF Southern Mindanao commiserates with the family, colleagues and
friends of Fr. Tenorio and sees his passing as another occasion to show
our collective disgust and legitimate action against an oppressive and
elite state. It is apparent that justice for Tenorio cannot be had under
the present regime. In time, those responsible for Tenorio’s demise shall
face the full wrath of the people’s army so that revolutionary justice
shall be served.#
(Sgd.) Rubi del Mundo
Spokesperson
NDF-Southern Mindanao
Lumad under
PASAKA and farmers under KMP-SMR storm AFP's Eastern Mindanao Command
headquarters in Panacan, Davao City crying out justice for Fr. Fausto
“Pops” Tentorio and calling out to stop implementing Oplan Bayanihan which
militarizes the countrysides now. (PHOTO BY: JONALD MAHINAY)
Farmers under
Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas- Southern Mindanao Region (KMP-SMR)
unfolds the big banner infront of Eastern Mindanao Command bearing the
call to oppose AFP's Oplan Bayanihan which wreak havoc in peasant
communities and calling justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio and peasant Ramon
Batoy who was killed by the 57th IB in Arakan, North Cotabato. (PHOTO BY:
JONALD MAHINAY)
Farmers
Association in Davao City joins other peasants from various provinces
under Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas- Southern Mindanao (KMP-SMR) in a
picket rally Sunday, October 24 calling out justice for all the victims of
political killings which happens unabated under AFP's Oplan Bayanihan in
Pnoy's government. (PHOTO BY: JONALD MAHINAY)
x
National Democratic Front
FarSouth Mindanao Region
20 October 2011
Tribute to Fr Fausto Tentorio, the People’s
Martyr
The National Democratic Front–FarSouth Mindanao Region salutes the
people’s martyr Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio who was mercilessly gunned down
in his convent in Arakan on October 17, 2011. We pay our highest tribute
to this quintessential progressive who served the people selflessly and
wholeheartedly for the greater part of his adult life in the many remote
places of Mindanao, Southern Philippines.
We are one with the farmers and lumads and the entire people of Mindanao
in our grief for this person who laid down his life serving the poor and
marginalized. In whatever way he can, for more than three decades, Fr Pops
did everything he can to serve the poorest and most neglected communities.
Through his literacy, health, peasant organizing and scholarship programs,
he touched the lives of thousands of farmers and lumads. Most importantly
he gave hope to so many by teaching them to stand up and fight for their
rights.
Fr. Pops became the model of all those he worked with– from his staff, to
the community organizers and mass leaders who constantly looked up to him
for guidance and inspiration. He lived simply. His undaunted optimism and
patently good humor helped to sustain all the programs he initiated even
during the most trying times, including an attempt on his life in 2003 by
lumad paramilitary fanatics under the employ of the 73rd IB.
His outstanding concern for the rural poor plus his advocacies for the
environment and against large-scale mining and the encroachment of
agribusiness plantations earned for Fr Pops the ire of the military who
branded him as an NPA supporter and a Communist. He was constantly under
surveillance. As a matter of fact, his convent was raided by elements of
the 68th IB sometime in 2006 which prodded him to file a complaint with
the local government unit of Arakan.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio’s murder is the most recent of the state-sponsored
extra judicial killings which have eroded and mocked the nation's justice
system– where military death squads roam the streets freely and are never
made accountable for their acts. This at a time when the AFP claims to
“have respect for human rights and humanitarian laws” under Oplan
Bayanihan. Hypocrisy adds insult to injury.
Fr. Pop’s untimely death strengthens our resolve to live and fight for the
noble cause of peace, justice and freedom. The revolutionary movement
shall not rest until justice is fully served and his death is vindicated.
The people will never forget you, Fr. Pops. You will always be our hope
and inspiration in this long and protracted struggle for national
democracy.
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
Press Release
October 19, 2011
Tatay Pops is a victim of Aquino regime's
Oplan Bayanihan--CPP
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today condemned "in the
strongest possible terms" the brutal killing of Father Fausto Tentorio in
Arakan Valley, North Cotabato on Monday by gunmen believed to belong to a
paramilitary unit under the Philippine Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion.
"The revolutionary forces extend their condolences to the family of Father
Tenorio and to the people of Arakan who he selflessly served," said the
CPP.
"Father Tentorio, endearly referred to as Tatay Pops, is the latest victim
of the continuing war of suppression of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) now named Oplan Bayanihan which targets people actively
engaged in mass struggles or supportive of people's cause-oriented
movements," said the CPP.
Father Tentorio was an Italian priest who headed the Mother of Perpetual
Help Parish in Arakan, Cotabato. A member of the Pontifical Institute of
Foreign Missions (PIME), he actively defended the rights of the minority
Manobo people and their struggle to claim their ancestral land. He was
vocal against the activities in Kulaman Valley of foreign mining companies
engaged in the extraction of nickel, cobalt and chromium.
In 2003, he was threatened by armed men belonging to the Bagani Command, a
paramilitary group organized by the Philippine Army to stop local
residents from supporting and joining the New People's Army (NPA).
"The campaign of extrajudicial killings continues under the Aquino
regime," said the CPP. "Aquino has given full rein to his military and
police forces to unleash an all-out war of suppression against the
people's mass struggles and armed revolution."
"Among the principal targets of the Aquino regime's war of suppression are
people actively opposed to mining operations," said the CPP. "In line with
its campaign to entice foreign mining companies to invest in mining and
plunder the country's remaining mineral resources, the Aquino regime aims
to silence opposition and suppress the resistance of local residents.
▲Visit of DILG Sec. Robredo ▼
Soldiers strafe community, kill farmer, and arrest 2 others in
Kabalantian village, Arakan, North Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines
(▼
Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio:
Beloved Servant of the Masses
A Tribute by Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee-CPP
October 25, 2011
To the assassins whose bullets felled him, to the fascist AFP that wanted
his head, and to the current oppressive Aquino regime, whose policy is to
justify exploitation and intensify oppression, Fr. Fausto “Pops”
Tentorio’s death was yet another crime. To the masses, to all peace-loving
advocates, to the revolutionary movement, his was a death of a martyr, a
beloved servant of the masses.
For Tatay Pops, the masses, and the masses
alone are the creators of history. He so understood that the masses whom
he served are the true heroes, not himself. He was, to many friends and
colleagues, that candid, hardworking missionary in Arakan who runs a
parish, runs pre-schools in pre-dominantly Lumad villages, who oversees a
Notre dame highschool, and who, every Sunday, gives brief but profound
homilies that affected people’s lives.
Production and livelihood, health, education
and literacy--things which are dear to the masses--these pre-occupied the
thoughts of Tatay Pops. For him, no time should be wasted, his talent,
skills, and drive were all devoted to better the lives of the peasants and
Lumads and to advance the revolutionary struggle. He cautioned colleagues
from staying in convent and instead focus their time in the areas. He
understood sacrifice, but he never uttered the word. To an exhausted
colleague, he would dearly say that the fatigue would pass if you’re happy
with your work with the people. He lived simply, not the one to pamper
himself and even to his colleagues; he did not go beyond what was needed.
He was not miserly for he was generous but his generosity was always for
the people, for the organizations that he helped serve, and not for
personal and individual whims.
This, because he learned from the masses. He
was transformed from being an adventurous 27-year old Italian newly
ordained priest who came to the Philippines who never looked back. Coming
from a working class family in Italy, he saw the vast oppression and
poverty in our country during the Marcos dictatorship. In the first few
decades, he understood what was explicit, that peasants and Lumads need
support to raise their livelihoods and incomes. He sought to make his
missionary life solely devoted in the welfare of the masses. And so he
raised funds in Italy, from friends and associates in his congregation, to
secure pigs, water buffaloes and farming tools.
Yet the inherent failures of the dole-out
system and the tendency of commandism, instead of painstaking work with
the masses, caught up with him. He became frustrated when he saw
beneficiaries slaughtering the animals for food instead of maintaining
these for livelihood. He realized that it was not enough to just give
stuff to the people while they are poor and exploited. In integrating with
the masses, in practicing criticism and self-criticism, it taught him a
valuable lesson: the genuine meaning of mass line, that is to solve the
problems of the masses is to raise their consciousness and alongside with
them, solve the practical problems of their daily lives. He helped educate
the people, and struggle to increase production, fight against usury and
high land rent. And he saw the masses cooperate, strengthen organizations,
unite and struggle against incursions in ancestral lands and
militarization. He saw that politics was the lifeblood of the economic
work of the people. He himself studied and understood the contradictions
of Philippine society. He saw the preponderance of political life and its
importance to the people. He saw the ultimate people’s struggle as an
imminent part in the full salvation of the people. In his sermons, he
guided peasants and the masses towards the kind of deliverance by
embracing the national democratic struggle, that they themselves and they
alone could thwart the system that has long marginalized them, thwart the
yoke of poverty, landlessness and exploitation they bore.
He was the unassuming missionary, who was
friends with the Church hierarchy--that did not always believe in the same
convictions. Though he was never silent with his political beliefs towards
his colleagues in the Church, he was low-key, in the sense that he was not
the one to lead in high-profile political events, he preferred to stay on
the ground and reach out to people, to schoolchildren, to Lumads.
And by transforming himself into a consummate selfless missionary, he
became fearless, courageous, unafraid with death, if death was to be a
consequence of his being a modern day prophet and a shepherd--steering his
flock to take the path of people’s struggle and attain liberation. He was
courageous and resisted having a driver or an assistant. He was
persevering in the face of the many hostile attempts against his life. He
even ventured to expand his work outside Arakan and North Cotabato and
help other Lumads in the region.
He never swayed from the commitment to serve
the masses, working around the boundaries, if not limitations, of his
being a foreign missionary. For if there is one thing that feared Tatay
Pops the most, it was to be uprooted from the masses, to be deported and
returned back home. The thought of being reprimanded by his superiors at
the PIME and the Catholic Church hierarchy, and to suddenly be blacklisted
by the reactionary immigration authorities, this constituted to what could
be his only fear in life.
He was, after all, the simple missionary who
lived like the masses. His words and deeds served to defend the interest
of the masses. His actions sought to unite the people against the evils of
our time-imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism and feudalism.
And so his death is unbearable to the people
whom he served, to the masses who have etched him in their hearts. The
Communist Party of the Philippines and the revolutionary movement mourn
his death and pay tribute to his profound life, a life well-spent in the
service of the people. He was an Italian who became a great Filipino- a
communist, an internationalist, who devoted more than half of his life to
serve the interest of the poor Filipino masses and make the cause of the
Filipino people as his own.
The Oplan Bayanihan of the US-Aquino Regime
has made him a victim, a martyr, a symbol of the political repression of
the decaying system in the country. His death has exposed the ferocity of
the AFP and the Aquino regime; without compunction, it took the life of a
missionary, a civilian. His killing unmasked the viciousness of the Oplan
Bayanihan which employs political killing as a continuing and explicit
policy of the Aquino government for counterrevolution, less than a year
after it was implemented. The 6th ID-Eastern Mindanao Command of the AFP
carries the blood debt for Fr. Pops.
And as we express our grief as he is laid to
rest, the revolutionary forces vow to bring revolutionary justice for Fr.
Pops. The people’s army is ever poised to inflict blows against the enemy
who have martyred Fr. Pops. As we grieve, we express our determination to
struggle resolutely in crushing the enemies that have felled him and
attain a society free from exploitation and oppression.#
(Sgd.) Siegfred M. Red
Secretary
Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee
Communist Party of the Philippines
In Mendiola:
March for justice and solidarity protest on the day of Fr. Pops' burial
PANALIPDAN!
MINDANAO
Defenders and Advocates of Environment, Creation and Patrimony in Mindanao
PRESS STATEMENT
October 23, 2011
Fr. Pops' life and mission as sturdy as his
Mahogany trees
Group slams mining and Oplan Bayanihan as "lethal combination" that led to
priest's murder
"Dili importante ang papeles nga atong magunitan. Ang importante ato kini
(yutang kabilin). Mapaningkamutan nato, mapabarog nato, mapalambo nato,
tungod ug alang sa atong kasaysayan, sa atong kultura, sa atong
panginabuhi, ug para sa atong mga kabataan..." (It's not important that we
have titles for this land. What's important is that this land is ours. We
struggle for it, we defend it, we cultivate it, because it is for our
history, for our culture, for our life, and for our youth.) -- Fr. Fausto
"Pops" Tentorio's words to a gathering of Manobo indigenous peoples in
Arakan valley some years ago.
PANALIPDAN! MINDANAO, a network of advocates for the environment and
patrimony, strongly assails theOctober 17 killing of Fr. Pops as the
latest assault and brazen killing of yet another defender of the
environment, indigenous peoples, and human rights. Fr. Tentorio is the
54th victim of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and the first victim of EJK
from the Roman Catholic Church under President Benigno Aquino III.
Having spent more than three decades of his missionary work to uplift and
develop Lumad, peasant communities in Mindanao especially in Arakan
municipality of North Cotabato, Fr. Pops had grown to be deeply rooted in
the life and struggles of communities versus corporate business incursions
that threaten people's resources and ancestral lands-the core fiber of
their lives.
Fr. Tentorio's generous smiles speak profoundly of his self-sacrifice and
joy he shared with the people, while weaving a life story that exemplifies
him being a genuine steward of the poor, integrity, and creation.
Norma Capuyan, a Manobo KALUMARAN leader, who has worked with Fr. Pops in
various programs initiated by the Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa
Cotabato (ASLPC) with the support of the Tri-Farmers Program for Community
Development (TFPCD) headed by Fr. Pops, cited how the Italian priest was
closely involved in education and advocacy efforts on the disastrous
implications of largescale mining and agri-business plantations, and how
he stood up together with local indigenous and peasant organizations
namely, Tinananon Kulamanon Panaghiusa sa Arakan (TIKULPA), Arakan Peasant
People's Organization (APPO) and Arakan Student and Parents Association (ASPO),
to protest the entry of Visayas Ore Phils, Inc. and Kumakata Mining
Corporation in the uplands of Arakan.
Fr. Pops' involvement in opposing business interests in communities has
put him in frequent confrontation with the military. Fr. Pops spoke for
the Lumads and farmers harassed by military due to their opposition to
economic plunder and militarization.
In this context, the recent statement of the Chamber of Mines corroborated
by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), dismissing as "pure
speculation" suggestions that the killing Fr. Pops was prompted by his
anti-mining crusade, proves to be untrue-- as untrue as the promise of
community benefits promoted by mining investors.
Data show that Visayas Ore's exploration permit application is on appeal
despite the issuance of an Order of Denial by the MGB this year. The MGB
likewise declared Kumakata Mining's target exploration area as "open to
mining applications after the prescribed period of posting" when the
latter withdrew its application from the MGB. While this is proof that
mining firms continue to salivate for Arakan Valley's mineral potentials,
the organized and solid community response underscores the fact that no
mining contracts exist in the province for the reason that the people have
firmly stood against it.
But more than his anti-mining stance, Fr. Pops bannered the cause of
social justice and denounced wanton abuse of power and use of state force
against the people's well-being. His murder, and the string of killings
before him, manifests a persisting government policy of silencing and
felling dissenters by bullets.
In other parts of Mindanao, this reality is made more pronounced as many
other social justice, rights and environment defenders are currently under
threat. Panalipdan Mindanao leaders Sr. Stella Matutina, OSB, Maria Fe
Matibo and Wenceslao Mapa continue to be harassed with the surveillance
and tailing of suspicious motorcycle-riding men, even after their ordeal
in February 2009 when they were illegally arrested and detained by the
67th IB during a community forum tackling mining and logging issues in
Davao Oriental province.
Panalipdan! Mindanao scores Aquino's Oplan Bayanihan to be responsible for
the brutal killing of Fr. Pops and unabated persecution of church people
and environment defenders.
Oplan Bayanihan has served to facilitate the entry of mining and
agri-business companies, or protect existing operations through a
combination of deceitful civic-military action and by military force.
Those who oppose these encroachments are considered military targets if
not vilified as insurgents or supporters. Oplan Bayanihan's "Peace and
Development Operations Teams" (PDOTs) have made the rounds in Arakan's
hinterlands to force communities into embracing not only mining operations
but banana and biofuel plantations as well.
Panalipdan! Mindanao also demands President Aquino to recall his approval
of a military proposal for mining firms to organize and support militias-a
measure no different from the use of state security forces in the creation
of Investment Defense Force in 2008 whose raison d'etre is to safeguard
mining operations. Affected communities already know too well that the
threat of mining or any other corporate investment comes with the threat
of terror and military aggression.
Clearly, Fr. Pops' shameless killing exposes once more the deception and
monstrosity of Oplan Bayanihan. The evidences surrounding his death
squarely lays accountability on the military units deployed in the area---
the ground implementers of Oplan Bayanihan in Arakan Valley.
Many have shed tears for Fr. Pops' untimely death. Let these tears water
the fertile ground he had nurtured in our continuing pursuit of genuine
development and peace based on social justice.
Like Fr. Pop's mahogany trees-who also stood as mute witnesses to the
crime-we are called to be sturdy and resolute in our unity and stance as
we press for justice, accountability and an end to impunity that martyred
a great defender of the environment and God's Creation.
For
reference: Sr. Stella Matutina, OSB, Secretary General, 0920.497.2204
Fr. Peter Geremia, PIME
Video: A tribute to Fr. Fausto
(Pops) Tentorio
He was truly appreciated and loved by the masses he served as this video
shows.
Some news
reports
CBCP
Statement on the killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME
ON this World Mission Sunday, October 23, 2011, we acknowledge our great
indebtedness to all foreign missionaries. They are friends of our people.
In great sacrifice they have strengthened our faith and assisted the poor
and the needy. We pray for them today.
We pray for Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, a missionary for more than 30
years. His brutal murder outside the parish rectory in Arakan, Diocese of
Kidapawan has shocked everyone.
We condemn and denounce in the strongest possible terms the heinous and
monstrous crime against the life of Fr. Fausto.
Simple and humble in life, Fr. Fausto was deeply esteemed by the
indigenous peoples whose cultural and territorial rights he promoted and
defended. He was deeply loved by the people whose spiritual welfare he
looked after.
How long will evil men continue to plot against those who courageously
protest against the sufferings of the poor and the degradation of God’s
creation? How long shall they continue to snuff out the lives of those who
dare to speak against injustices and imbalances in our society? How long
will they continue to roam around freely without being brought to justice?
The government must act decisively and swiftly. It must investigate
thoroughly every angle of the murder of Fr. Fausto. It cannot simply point
at the usual scapegoats.
We express our deep sympathy with the missionary community of the PIME, to
the Bishop, clergy, religious, and laity of the Diocese of Kidapawan and
to Fr. Fausto’s relatives in Italy. Our grieving with them goes beyond
words.
Fr. Fausto strove throughout his priestly and missionary life to walk
humbly, act justly, and love the Lord and his people passionately. May
Mary our Blessed Mother lead him to the fullness of life given by Jesus
her Divine Son.
+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, D.D.
Bishop of Tandag
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines
October 23, 2011
GMA NEWS ONLINE
Luha ay tulad ng
aserong kumukulo
by Gabriela South Mindanao
October 25, 2011
hindi mapigilan ang mga luha:
luha ng pagmamahal sa isang Pops na nag-alay ng kanyang buhay para sa mga
mahihirap na magsasaka at dukhang mga lumad; luha ng naghihimagsik na
damdamin dahil sa ipokritong Simbahang Katoliko na nagkait sa mga taong
mag-alay ng nararapat na luksang parangal kay Pops; luha ng galit sa mga
maykapangyarihang kumitil ng buhay ni Pops;
pero hindi matatapos sa pagluluhang ito ang kwento ng buhay at kamatayan
ni Pops.
ang pagmamahal kay Pops ang magiging inspirasyon upang ipagpatuloy ang
kanyang simulain;
ang naghihimagsik na damdamin ay magtutulak upang lalong magpunyagi sa
pagpukaw at pag-organisa ng masang lumad at magbubukid;
ang galit ang magdidilig sa natutuyong damdamin ng mga masang api upang
sila ay bumangon at magsasabing, TAMA NA, KUMILOS NA, IPAGLABAN ANG TUNAY
NA DEMOKRASYA AT KALAYAAN
Peace group condemns killing of another farmer in Arakan; says “give
people time to grieve for Pops’ murder”
Davao City - The Exodus for Justice and Peace (EJP) is demanding the
immediate pull out of military troops in Arakan in the wake of yet another
military perpetrated killing of a farmer from Brgy. Kabalantian, Arakan
yesterday.
“We denounce the worsening state of impunity in Arakan. It has not been
long since Fr. Pops was killed, now a farmer was slain while 48 other
households have evacuated their homes for fear of the worsening
militarization in the area,” said Jurie Jaime, Co – Convener of the Exodus
for Justice and Peace (EJP) and Secretary General of the Promotion of
Church Peoples’ Response (PCPR).
EJP said a Fact Finding Team composed of 100 persons initiated an
immediate investigation upon receiving reports that Ramon Batoy, 35 years
old, a farmer from Sitio Upper Lumbo, Brgy. Kabalantian, Arakan, North
Cotobato, was strafed to death by members of the 57th Infantry Battalion
Philippine Army.
The Batoy family was supposedly preparing to attend the wake of Fr. Fausto
‘Pops’ Tentorio in Mother of Perpetual Help Parish.
Gina, Ramon’s wife, said that a soldier from the 57th IB insisted on
entering their house. But when Ramon asked the soldier for a search
warrant, he was hit with the butt of an M16 rifle. In trying to defend
himself, Batoy reached for his bolo and killed the soldier.
Upon learning the incident, three soldiers who were nearby strafed Batoy’s
house and seven (7) other houses. Batoy’s wife who was 6 months pregnant
escaped together with their daughter and son while some of their
neighbours suffered injuries and trauma.
Batoy’s wake now lies alongside Fr. Pop’s coffin in the Mother of
Perpetual Help Parish.
In lieu of Pops and Batoy’s killing and the massive militarization of the
communities in Arakan, 48 households from Brgy. Kabalantian forcibly
evacuated their homes.
Residents as well as employees and volunteers around the parish have
experienced interrogation and harassment from elements of the 57th IB.
One of the employees interviewed said, “We have been called from time to
time by the military. They are asking what is Pops’ programs, if he
supports the New Peoples’ Army and why is Pops’ programs not ‘properly
coordinated with the government. This is a lie because Fr. Pops have
always given courtesy to the LGU with regards to his programs.”
Jaime bewailed, “Does the military have no more shame, that they dishonour
Fr. Pops’ memory by demonizing Fr. Pops’ services? We urge the Aquino
government, the Department of Justice and other agencies to intervene in
this military – perpetrated terror. The military should be pulled out from
Arakan.”
For Reference:
REV. JURIE JAIME
0919-8161876
**
Mass and Candlelighting for Fr. Fausto Tentorio
Plaza Miranda
October 24, 2011 All photos by Jessica Sosmeña
x
Another victim killed in Arakan Valley
PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 28, 2011
Ramon Batoy, 35, was killed a mere three days after Fr. Fausto Tentorio
was killed also in Arakan Valley.
MANILA – A peasant farmer was killed by soldiers from the 57th Infantry
Battalion (IB) in Sitio Upper Lumbo, barangay Kabalantian, Arakan Valley,
North Cotabato last Oct. 20. Ramon Batoy, 35, was killed a mere three days
after Fr. Fausto Tentorio was killed also in Arakan Valley. The soldiers
also fired at Batoy’s house, his wife Gina, who is six months old
pregnant, and their two children were able to escape.
According
to the initial report, before his killing, Ramon Batoy was being accused
by soldiers of being a member of the New People’s Army. Batoy is an active
supporter of Bantay Katubigan and Bantay Kalikasan of Mt. Sinaka
facilitated by the Municipal Agriculture Office of Arakan. He was also a
tenant-farmer of the Mayor of Antipas.
According to the urgent action alert sent to Bulatlat.com, three soldiers
from the 57th IB forcibly entered Batoy’s house. When Batoy resisted, he
was hit with rifle butt. Batoy defended himself against the soldiers and
struck the soldier with his bolo. Three soldiers nearby, one of whom was
covering his face with a mask, riddled Batoy with bullets. A witness saw
that one soldier strapped a rifle on Batoy and took pictures of his dead
body.
Batoy’s house and seven other houses nearby were then fired upon by the
soldiers. Batoy’s brother, Roger, 44, suffered minor wounds on his left
foot. He was inside his house with his wife and stepmother. His wife,
Janeth noticed bullets passed over her head during the firing.
On the same day, according to human rights groups Karapatan, Noli Badol,
35, farmer and a leader of Sitio Upper Lumbo, Brgy. Kabalantian, Arakan
was also mauled by soldiers from 57th IB. “Badol’s legs and hands were
tied. Soldiers also fired at his wife Evelyn, 32, who is eight months
pregnant, and their children when she attempted to go near Badol. The
military took Badol and detained him at the detachment of the 57th
Infantry Battalion for several hours,” Karapatan said in a statement.
Celso Batoy, elder brother of Batoy, 47, was also mauled and detained by
the soldiers. Both Celso and Badol are both currently detained at the
police station of Ammas Municipality in North Cotabato for charges of
illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
These incidents resulted to the evacuation of 136 families. Some 43
families from Sitio Lumbo evacuated to Binoongan Elementary School for
fear of more attacks from the military.
The following day, Oct. 21, another 93 families evacuated to the same
school.
“What kind of ‘peace and development’ is going on in the communities in
Arakan? The military’s ‘peace and development’ activities actually means
the fake surrender of civilians being forced to admit to being members of
the NPA; the mauling, strafing, harassment, threat, intimidation and
killings of civilian. We are now seeing the true face of Oplan Bayanihan,
the current administration’s counter-insurgency program, where scores of
human rights violations take place amid the presence of the so-called
Peace and Development Teams (PDTs),” Karapatan Southern Mindanao said in a
statement.
Encounter?
Lt.
Col. Joven Gonzales, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion immediately
announced to the media that an encounter took place in Arakan town around
5:45 a.m. while the soldiers were conducting “a clearing operation.” He
told the media that the operation was “legitimate” and that Ramon Batoy,
Noli Badol and Celso Batoy were NPA members.
Isabel Santiago, spokeswoman of the Alfonso Command (Front 53) in Mindanao
belied the military’s claim saying that there no encounter occurred.
“The Herminio Alfonso Command, Front 53 Operations, likewise scoffed at
the lies perpetrated by the AFP. Col. Joven Gonzales said the raid
conducted by the 5th Special Forces Company was in response to a tip that
there were land mines in the area,”] while 602nd Brigade Commander Col.
Cesar Sedillo and AFP Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson Col. Leopoldo
Galon, Jr, claimed that there was a legitimate encounter with Red Fighters
in the area. No such encounter occurred.”
“The murders and atrocities in Arakan, North Cotabato has showed that the
fascists have no compunction in unleashing their brutality against the
people using the deceptive ‘soft approach’ trickery. The toiling masses
can only turn to the people’s democratic revolution for genuine justice,”
Santiago said.
Karapatan
Southern Mindanao said the military’s 10th Infantry Division, Eastern
Mindanao Command and the Aquino government, because of its Oplan Bayanihan,
shares the blood of these victims on their hands. “This is the face of
Peace and Development Outreach Program. Their peace is silencing the
people’s dissent. Their peace means death to leaders of farmers, church
people, and civilians.”
The group also called on the Aquino government to prosecute the
perpetrators in the incident. “We are calling the government to pull-out
all military troops in the countrysides and to pull-out all peace and
development teams.”
x
Calls for justice echo as Fr. Pops was laid
to rest
PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 28, 2011
“Tentorio was “a good priest, a fervent believer who for many years served
the people of the Philippines in a courageous and indefatigable way.” Pope
Benedict XVI
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/28/calls-for-justice-echo-as-fr-pops-was-laid-to-rest/
MANILA – Thousands of people mourning for the passing of Italian
missionary Fr. Fausto Tentorio or Fr. Pops were in attendance as his body
was laid to rest in Kidapawan City, North Cotabao on Tuesday, Oct. 25.In
Manila, church and other groups also marched from España to Mendiola
bridge wearing black shirts and red ribbons calling for justice for the
slain priest.
On Oct. 17, Tentorio was killed outside his convent in Poblacion,
Greenfields, Arakan Valley while preparing to go to a clergy meeting in
Kidapawan City. According to news reports, Tentorio sustained ten gunshot
wounds in the head and chest. Tentorio’s body was buried beside Fr. Tulio
Favalli’s tomb.
Tentorio had been living in the country for almost three decades. He first
arrived in the Philippines in 1978 and was later on assigned to North
Cotabato in 1985. Since being assigned to North Cotabato in 1985, the
Religious Discernment Group (RDG)said in a statement, Fr. Tentorio has
taken to heart the joys, hopes, grieves and anxieties, particularly of the
Monobos in the Arakan Valley.
Fr. Greg Obejas said during the solidarity action in Mendiola bridge that
Tentorio was only giving the people of Arakan what the government should
be providing them. “Fr. Tentorio gave the people of Arakan education, a
basic social service that the government should be providing for its
citizens. Instead of providing basic social services, the government has
even increased the budget for the military. There is no war here. The
government should be ashamed for what had happened to Fr. Pops.“
RDG said that Tentorio provided the people of Arakan schools, day care,
health services, sustainable agriculture and livelihood projects for this
people whom he loved so much. “He was head of the Tribal Filipino
Apostolate in the Diocese of Kidapawan. Fr. Fausto believed in community
development to empower the people. He therefore questioned the so called
“development projects” supported by the government and large foreign
corporations, such as plantations and mining, seeing that these were not
for the good of the people. He became a vocal critic in defending their
rights and the integrity of mother earth,“ RDG added.
According to Karapatan, Tentorio was the 56th victim of extrajudicial
killing under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino. Ramon
Batoy, a peasant farmer also lives in Arakan Valley was killed on Oct. 20,
barely three days after Tentorio’s killing, was the 57th victim of
extrajudicial killing. He was killed by alleged members of 57th Infantry
Batallion.
Serving the people
Tentorio has definitely touched the lives of the people in North Cotabato.
As described by the RDG, Tentorio has lived the call of Vatican II, to
make his own “the joys and the hopes, the grieves and the anxieties of the
people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted
because, these too are the joys and hopes, the grieves and anxieties of
the followers of Christ” (Church in the Modern World, No.1)
In a news article Pedro Gumano, a leader of Kilusang Magbubukid ng
Pilipinas said, during a tribute for the slain priest, that Tentorio had
always been the person the people in Arakan go to to ask for help. “From
food , work, education, building daycare center, wedding of a daughter,
hospitalization of a child, whatever it is, Pops always came to share his
blessings.” Tentorio also provided water system and fixed the road for the
people.
Tentorio also helped people in their struggle against development
aggression and mining. “Fr. Tentorio was a staunch advocate against the
entry of Xstrata’s open-pit mining in one of their areas of concern. This
and the fact that he was already threatened by elements of the Bagani
paramilitary group under the 73rd Infantry Brigade indicate the likelihood
that mining and the military is behind the killings,” said Clemente
Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network for the
Environment.
In 2003, Tentorio was threatened and has put been under surveillance by
elements of the Bagani paramilitary group. But the incident never stopped
Tentorio from helping the people. Tentorio also headed the Tribal
Filipinos Apostolate of the Kidapawan diocese and protected the rights of
the indigenous peoples of Arakan particularly the Manobos.
Tentorio was also a child rights advocate. He was the founding member of
the Board of Trustees of child rights organization, Association for the
Rights of Children on Southeast Asia (ARCSEA) focusing on projects
concerning children of indigenous peoples from 2003 to 2005.
“Fr. Pops was very dedicated in pursuing the Early Childhood Care and
Development in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Under his care, almost 30
day cares and literacy-numeracy programs and schools for the Lumads were
built in response to the education needs of Lumad children,” said Melissa
San Miguel, spokeswoman of of Salinlahi.
San Miguel added that Tentorio initiated trainings for Lumad para-teachers
and tapped an organization that has expertise on nationalist,
mass-oriented and scientific education which is the Parent’s Alternative
on Early Childhood Care and Development Inc. (PAECCDI), a Salinlahi’s
member organization. “Fr. Pops was one of the very diligent child rights
advocate-priests who never tired of serving the children and the rest of
the Lumads in the area. He provided what the government cannot provide:
education for Lumad children. More than that, he gave the Lumads the
dignity of a decent life that the government has consistently failed to
do.”
San Miguel said the government should be thankful for people like Fr. Pops
who served enthusiastically the oppressed people but instead, like other
activists serving the poor and the oppressed, the military chose to
silence him. “The sad truth in this kind of society is that whoever serves
the oppressed are the ones who are being killed by state forces. And what
was more frustrating is that instead of getting support from the
government for his projects for children, these projects became objects of
military violence.”
San Miguel stated cases of militarization of communities where progressive
schools like The Blaan Literacy School and Learning Center in Malapatan,
Sarangani are being attacked and tagged as “NPA school”.
International groups also call for justice
Church groups and other organizations condemn the killing of Tentorio. The
International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines-CCHRP
Rome Chapter, Advocates for Human Rights in the Philippines-AHRP, a US
based network and People of Faith in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
calls for justice for the slain priest.
“We echo the cries for justice. We call for a fast, full and fair
investigation of this terrible crime,” the People of Faith in Australia
and Aotearoa New Zealand said in statement sent to Bulatlat.com.
The group also calls for the dismantling of militia units that have
threatened the life of Tenorio since 2003 and claimed lives of several
anti-mining indigenous peoples and human rights advocates since the Marcos
dictatorship. “In his 30 years of mission among indigenous people, poor
peasants and other disadvantaged sectors in Mindanao, Fr. Tentorio lived
out true Christian discipleship. Witnessing injustice, poverty and rampant
government neglect, he joined them in their fight to defend ancestral
domain while setting up education and health programmes for the poor,” the
group said.
Pope Benedict XVI also sent his condolences to those who loved Tentorio.
“Tentorio was “a good priest, a fervent believer who for many years served
the people of the Philippines in a courageous and indefatigable way.”
“The killing continues because no single perpetrator has been prosecuted
since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s presidency,” said Fr. Dionito Cabillas. He
said that there are evidences against the military but not a single one
has been prosecuted. “Evidence points to Maj. Harry Baliaga for the
abduction and disappearance of Jonas Burgos but he has not yet been
prosecuted, Jovito Palparan was not prosecuted for the abduction Sherlyn
Cadapan and Karen Empeño. Bishop Alberto Ramento’s murderers were put to
jail but were about to be released because there is not enough evidence
against them. The Aquino government never gives justice to the victims of
human rights abuses, the perpetrators are still free.”
Cristina Palabay, convenor of End Impunity Alliance said the recent
killing of Tentorio and Batoy is the result of Oplan Bayanihan policy of
the Aquino government. “Maj. Gen. George Segovia, the man behind the
detention and torture of the 43 health workers is now in Mindanao because
the government said Davao, and the whole Southern Mindanao region is the
new epicentre of the New People’s Army that is why the military
intensifies their operation under Oplan Bayanihan.” Segovia is the
Division Commander of 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.
Meanwhile, Bagong Alayansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general said
during the solidarity action in Mendiola that the people will look after
the case of the slain priest. He added that the Department of Justice
(DOJ) has put up a task force to get the assassin who killed the Italian
priest. “We will not let the case of Fr. Pops be just one of the
statistics of victims of extrajudicial killings. The perpetrators should
be held accountable and be prosecuted. This is not the last action to call
for justice for Fr. Pops. We will hold protest actions until Fr. Pops and
several other victims of human rights abuses be given justice.”
x
Scholars to pursue legacy of Fr. Pops PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 28, 2011
“Father Pops told us, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for the people.
What about us humans? Can’t we sacrifice our lives for our fellowmen and
women, too?”
Sidebar: Musings in the first hours following Fr. Pops murder?
ARAKAN, North Cotabato — The coffin where the body of Fr. Fausto “Father
Pops” Tentorio lay was bedecked with flowers. As the vigil continued day
and night, so was the outpouring from ordinary folks who stayed for the
daily mass and tribute. They paid respects to the missionary who spent
much of his life serving the poor in Mindanao.
Father Pops’ scholars — from elementary to college – were also present.
Most of them, if not all, stayed the whole duration of his wake. “Father
Pops kept telling us, don’t base everything on the book and in the four
corners of the classroom. You have to go outside and see actual events.
The society—that is our book, our classroom,” recounted Rey Rabadon, 20, a
resident of Barangay Malibatuan in Arakan.
And as 15,000 people – most of whom he helped and touched their lives —
from Davao City, from the provinces, from Manila and Italy, witnessed his
burial on October 25, Father Pops’ scholars promised to themselves, to
continue and pursue the ideals and legacy of Father Pops.
“Father’s death will not stop me from moving forward. It will not weaken
me,” said Rabadon, “I know that with Father Pops’ help, there are people
who are willing to help me and those who are interested to go to school.”
Rabadon, a Bisaya, is currently in his third year, taking Bachelor of
Science in Forestry at the Cotabato Foundation College of Science and
Technology. He has been Father Pops’ scholar since primary school. Two of
his siblings were Father Pops’ scholars until they got married. One
graduated high school while the other one finished only third year in
secondary school.?
Orphans since 2003, after both their parents drowned in the river after a
heavy rain, Father Pops practically became their surrogate father.
“Father Pops took care of us. He supported us all throughout. And if he
can’t go to us personally, he assigned his staff to deliver his support,”
said Rabadon. “Everything that we need in school, he gave it to us since
we became scholars until the time of his death,” he added. ?
For Isabel Indao, “(E)ven if he’s already gone, I promise to finish my
education. He is my inspiration.”
Indao, 14, a resident of White Colaman in Kitaotao, Bukidnon is a Manobo.
She’s one of Father Pops’ about 3,000 lumad (indigenous people) and
peasant scholars from North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Davao del Norte.
Currently, she’s a second year high school student of Notre Dame in Arakan.
She’s been the missionary’s scholar since primary school. ?
“After secondary school, if he sees that you’re interested to pursue
college, he will make you a scholar,” Indao said.
Indao is one of Father Pops’ special scholars who gets financial
assistance and rice subsidy. Everything they need in school, including
notebooks and uniforms, plus school fees and requirements are covered by
Father Pops’ educational programs and scholarships.
Like Rabadon, Indao’s not the only missionary’s scholar in her family. “My
older sibling was also a scholar but only until third year high school.
She got married,” she said. “Father Pops saw that I was very interested to
pursue and finish my studies. That’s why he made me his scholar,” she
added.
To be an educator, is what she wants to be someday. “So that I can help my
fellowmen and women gain knowledge,” she said.
Father Pops wanted his scholars to finish their studies and would
reprimand them if they don’t take their studies seriously.
“He will always tell us, don’t be absent if you don’t have any valid or
big reason to do so,” she said.
Father Pops headed about 80 daycare centers in the areas of Arakan,
Tulunan, Antipas, Makilala and M’lang, all in North Cotabato. Indao’s
mother is a teacher in one of these daycare centers. Father Pops also
supported 10 Ata-Manobo schools in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
Father Pops’ teachings
The missionary challenged his scholars to go out and see how people were
exploited by the big land owners.
“Father Pops told us, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for the people.
What about us humans? Can’t we sacrifice our lives for our fellowmen and
women, too?” he said.
“Now, with his death, I can tell that Father Pops’ words were true.
Because he sacrificed his life, not only for the youth, but for the
people,” he said.
“Father Pops wanted to see everybody have a decent life. He wanted every
family to eat three times a day,” Indao said.
Indao said Father Pops has been going to their area when she was still in
her mother’s womb. She grew up knowing Father Pops, the man who ignored
the muddy earth and distance just to see the condition of her family and
other lumad-peasant families.
“He kept visiting to check on our condition,” she said. “He really wanted
to help the poor, especially the lumads,” she said.
Indao shared that Father Pops shouldered all the medical expenses,
including medicines and hospital bills, when her older sibling got very
sick.
“He had many contributions for our community, from the water facility to
daycare center. Even before his death, he planned to put up a hanging
bridge over the river in our sitio (sub-village), so it would be easier
for the students to travel from their houses to school and vice versa,”
she shared.
If Father Pops saw parents who can’t afford to send their children to
school, he immediately registered their children under his educational
programs.
Endearing himself to the lumads and peasants, Fr. Pops solicited the
opposite from fanatic paramilitary groups.
Around 2003, when Indao was still in primary school, members of a
military-backed paramilitary group Alamara went to their house and
searched for Father Pops. Indao’s memories of this incident were still
fresh. They hid Father Pops in a small ‘bodega’ and she and her siblings
played outside to distract and divert the attention of the fanatic group.
Her older sister played sick so the Alamara members could not go inside
their house.
“They wanted Father Pops dead. They want to cut his ear and eat it,” she
said.
Thanks to this peasant family, Father Pops’ life was extended for eight
more years.
We want justice
“Gusto gyud nako nga pangitaan og hustisya si Father Fausto kay kadtong
nagpatay sa iya, dili lang si Father Fausto iyang gipatay, lakip na among
kaugmaon namong mga scholar, iya usab gipatay,” (I want to seek justice
for Father Fausto because the one who killed him, he didn’t only kill
Father Fausto, he also killed the future of his scholars), she said.
“Only Father Pops helped us from our very dire condition. He’s like a
government giving help and services to his people. Why did they kill him?”
she asked.
Indao said her heart broke when she learned that he was murdered. “I can’t
accept what happened to him. Our (the scholars) hearts bleed for Father
Pops,” she said.
“Is is a crime to help others? Is that the reason why they killed him?”
Rabadon said.
Rabadon said he’s not the only one who’s going to experience changes after
Father Pops’ death.
“What happens now to his scholars? How about the lumads? The people he has
been helping? The schools he built?” he wondered.
“It’s very painful to lose someone who has been there all the time to help
you. It’s very painful, even just the thought of it,” he said.
No accidental killing?
“When they eliminate one like (Father) Fausto, as if they would want to
eliminate those who’d like to serve the people that way,” Fr. Peter
Jeremiah, PIME, said.
Fr. Jeremiah shared that the autopsy report reveals there were two kinds
of bullets used against Father Pops. “The impact was instant that (Father)
Pops could not be helped to survive,” he said.
According to the medico-legal expert, out of the 1,800 cases of autopsy he
handled, Father Fausto was only the second case where the assassin used
that kind of bullet. “Those fragmentation bullets are very unusual, very
rare. So whoever prepared this killing used the most deadly kind of
weapon,” he said.
The Italian priest suffered 10 gunshot wounds.“This was not an accidental
killing, it was purposely planned,” Fr. Jeremiah said. He said the killing
of Father Pops cannot be done by any of the local people or someone who
had some resentment, but can only be done by a very powerful group of
people. “I am convinced that the planners involved several people who
consented to this (killing),” he said.?
He said what happened to Father Pops is a threat to everybody. “It is a
threat to the community because by doing that they kill the one who
represents the dreams of the community and they can kill anybody,” he
said.
Father Pops is the first Roman Catholic priest killed under the Aquino
regime. He’s the 54th victim under the Aquino government’s
counter-insurgency operational plan, Bayanihan. He’s the third member of
he Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) killed during the last
26 years. The first one was Fr. Tullio Favali who was killed by Edilberto
Manero in 1985 in Tulunan, North Cotabato. The second was Father Salvatore
Carzedda who was killed in Zamboanga city in 1992.
Siegfred M. Red, secretary of the CPP’s (Communist Party of the
Philippines) Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee, said, in a
tribute published in national and local dailies, “The Oplan Bayanihan of
the US-Aquino Regime has made him (Father Pops) a victim, a martyr, a
symbol of the political repression of the decaying system in the country.
His death has exposed the ferocity of the AFP and the Aquino regime;
without compunction, it took the life of a missionary, a civilian.”
“His killing unmasked the viciousness of the Oplan Bayanihan which employs
political killing as a continuing and explicit policy of the Aquino
government for counterrevolution, less than a year after it was
implemented. The 6th ID-Eastern Mindanao Command of the AFP carries the
blood debt for Fr. Pops,” added Red.
The military, immediately after Father Pops’ killing, denied any hand. The
AFP’s Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson Col. Leopoldo Galon, Jr., went
as far as to accuse the CPP of masterminding the killing of Fr. Pops, a
charge that the military, as of press time, has not substantiated.
Hope springs
Indao said that Fr. Pops may be an Italian but his heart was undoubtedly
Filipino, “he was so kind and giving. He feels for every poor family like
mine. He’s the kindest person we’ve ever encountered.”
CPP’s Red praised Fr. Pops as “an Italian who became a great Filipino–a
communist, an internationalist, who devoted more than half of his life to
serve the interest of the poor Filipino masses and make the cause of the
Filipino people as his own.”
Rabadon said that actions and mobilizations must be undertaken to bring
the perpetrators to justice.
But for now, he can only hope, that whoever replaces Father Pops, “He will
be like Father Pops who seeks the interest of the people and not only his
own.”
“People like (Father) Fausto is still moving us. We share the same kind of
commitment and the same feeling that we cannot abandon the people. And so
even if he’s buried, he’s still alive in many of us, and will continue his
work,” Fr. Jeremiah said.
PRESS RELEASE
October 30, 2011
Arakan folks slam military-led peace forum to cover up
accountability on rights violations
Arakan Valley, North Cotabato -- Residents of Sitios Lumbo and Agila were
firm on refusing to face the military in a dialogue dubbed as peace forum
initiated by Barangay Officials of Kabalantian, Arakan Valley on October
27, 2011.
As expressed by the residents in their statement and during a recent
visitation of Satur Ocampo and a team coming from the Exodus for Justice
and Peace, they strongly demanded for the soonest pull-out of any military
troops from their communities, for their immediate return to their homes,
their farms.
"Sa among mga kasinatian sa pakighisgot atubangan sa mga militar, mahasi
ang mga sibilyan, dili kaistorya tungod sa kahadlok nga human
makapagpadayag sa among reklamo balikan kami sa mga militar" as stated in
their statement.
Cited in their statement, "klaro ang among demanda nga papahawaon ang mga
militar sa among lugar aron makabalik nami sa among mga panimalay. Musugot
lang mi makig-atubang dili sa mga militar nga hinungdan sa among pagbakwet,
kundili, sa mga opisyales sa probinsiya sa Cotabato ug sa mayor."
The 48 families belonging to Matigsalog-Manobo tribe forcibly fled away
from their homes after military troops from 57th IB, 38th IB and 10th
Special Forces from the Philippine Army fired bullets to several houses in
the area. More than a hundred more families have evacuated from other
tribes, also from the same communities.
The soldiers had
also arrested two of their fellows, one of which is a sitio leader. The
two civilians namely, Nolie Badol and Celso Batoy were accused by the
soldiers of being NPA rebels. They were currently locked-up at Kidapawan
City Jail in North Cotabato Province and were charged of illegal
possession of firearms and explosives.
Meanwhile, families and friends of slain farmer Ramon Batoy are seeking
the intervention of an independent commission or group that can
investigate the case of their fellow, Ramon, who was slain by the
soldiers.
Various human rights groups and peasant organizations are now intensifying
the call for the release of two detained farmers and the pull-out of
military troops in all communities.
Hanimay Suazo, Secretary General of KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao, said "
These incidents are the real score of the AFP’s peace and development
outreach program. Militarization is a monster hiding in the mask of peace
and development."
She concluded, "the government and its soldiers are claiming they are for
peace while impoverishing and victimizing us through terrorism."###
FOR REFERENCE: Hanimay Suazo, Seceretary General, KARAPATAN-SMR,
09294014945
PRESS RELEASE
October 28, 2011
GABRIELA nixes militarization in Arakan,
calls for military pull-out
DAVAO CITY – On the occasion of the National Day of Protest of Filipino
Women, GABRIELA leads hundreds of women today to call for the pull-out of
military troops in Arakan, North Cotabato.
Reports
show that around 136 families from the communities of Upper Lumbo and
Agila in Barangay Cabalantian, Arakan North Cotabato have evacuated for
fear of military attacks following the death of Ramon Batoy, a peasant who
was killed last October 20 after elements of 57th Infantry Battalion
strafed his and seven others’ houses with bullets.
“It was much like the times of Marcos dictatorship when the residents in
communities are limited of their mobility,” said Mae Ann Sapar, Deputy
Secretary General of GABRIELA after visiting the residents who have
evacuated from Sitio Aguila, Barangay Kabalantian, Arakan, North Cotabato.
“The residents, who are mostly indigenous peoples, are not going to their
farms anymore for fear of being seen by military forces and tagged as
members of New People’s Army. Children have stopped schooling and women
fear for the lives of their families,” Sapar said.
“Is this the kind of peace and development the government speaks of? Peace
that silences communities?” she said.
“We demand for the pull-out of military troops in the Arakan. The
residents have already spoken, they were more peaceful without military
operations,” she said.
On October 28, 1983, more than 10,000 women took the streets in protest of
repression, oppression and corruption of the Marcos dictatorship.
“It has been 28 year since then that the women’s collective action has
become a significant role in toppling down a dictator. But now, the
dictator is gone but the repression and oppression of the people remains,”
Sapar said.
“The PNoy government is clearly exposing itself as a new face of an
oppressor. Lest, he makes a u-turn on his concept of a rhetorical
“daang-matuwid” and genuinely address the people’s clamor for social
justice, then it won’t be long to have the same fate of his father’s
enemy,” she said. ###
“Defend
the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the
oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of
the wicked.”
•
That Fr. Fausto Tentorio was shot to death between 7:15 – 7:30 in the
morning of October 17, 2011 at the garage area within the compound of
Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan Valley, North Cotabato Province.
Witnesses saw the presence of men in military uniform near the crime
scene. Fr. Fausto sustained multiple gunshot wounds on the chest area and
one fatal shot on the head that caused his instantaneous death. His
lifeless body was found beneath the Suzuki gray vehicle by Rosita Nabreda
(caretaker) only at around 8:00 am when she was about to throw some
garbage;
That it should be recalled that on June 12, 2009 about 3:45pm the parish
was illegally searched by 9 elements of 57th Infantry Battalion wearing
full battle gear as they wrongfully accused Fr. Fausto assisting sick and
wounded New People‟s Army (NPA) member;That Fr. Fausto used to sit in the
Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) of Arakan, but since 2007, the
commander of 57th IB requested to pull him out because of the priest‟s
opposition to combat heavy military operations that has been targeting
civilian communities. He was also against the formation of Barangay
Defense System (BDS) and
