Military threaten Filipino nuns

Filipino nuns. (CathNews)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (CathNews / Feb. 24, 2009) - A Filipino Benedictine nun has accused government soldiers of harassing herself and other environmental activists after they held a forum on mining and sustainable agriculture in a southern Mindanao village, according to a report by the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN).

UCAN reported that Sr Stella Matutina said armed soldiers wearing camouflaged uniforms harassed her and two environmentalists after they organised a village forum on mining related issues.

"Armed men barged in and roused all of us at gunpoint," Sister Stella Matutina, 40, said in a recent press conference in the southern Davao City. "They demanded to see the documents and materials used during the forum."

The group, invited by local officials, had finished an "anti-mining forum" and talk on sustainable agriculture in Taytayan village on February 15. They were sleeping in a village hall when the incident allegedly took place.

The Sisters' Association in Mindanao condemned the incident. "The Armed Forces of the Philippines is sending out the chilling message that no religious can disrupt their plans of protecting the interests of logging, mining and big businesses," read their statement presented at the press conference.

Sr Matutina, together with Panalipdan, a broad alliance of environmentalists and peoples' organizations, has helped in documenting mining activities in Mindanao's Davao Oriental province, including those of the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton.

Panalipdan's Davao Oriental chairman Wenceslao Mapa and Councilor Maria Fe Matibo from the provincial capital of Mati joined Sister Matutina to conduct the forum.

However, masked gunmen wearing camouflaged military uniforms woke them up before 4 a.m. the next day.

Sr Matutina said the men introduced themselves as soldiers and told her she was not supposed to be there. The nun and the environmentalists were held for hours, until Mati diocese sent Father Edmundo Escobal to negotiate for their release.

Major Randolph Cabangbang, regional military spokesperson contacted by telephone, denied any harassment had taken place and described the incident as propaganda by groups linked to Maoist rebels.

He said soldiers went to the area "to check reports of suspicious looking and armed men."
"Our soldiers did not know the nun was there," he said. "What was she doing there? She was supposed to stay in the convent. What she did there wasn't related to her Church work."

At the news conference, Mapa told reporters the gunmen had pointed two rifles at him and he felt "traumatized." Matibo said she felt embarrassed about the way the nun and Mapa were treated.

Sister Matutina said the incident infuriated her, but she was most concerned about how soldiers would treat "ordinary people who cannot defend their rights."

Panalipdan reported it documented more than 100 applications for mining exploration permits submitted to the provincial government as of December 2008.

Anti-mining activist killed in southern RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 24, 2008) – An anti-mining activist accused by the Philippine military as a communist rebel was shot dead by gunmen in Mindanao, south of the country where security forces are battling insurgents.

Fernando Sarmiento, Secretary-General of the anti-mining group called Panalipdan, was killed late Tuesday in the village of Cabinuangan in Compostela Valley’s New Bataas town.

His followers condemned the killing and accused the military as behind the murder.

“We condemn in the strongest term the brutal killing of Dodong Sarmiento, who is known for leading the rural folks of New Bataan in calling for the stoppage of the operations of PhilCo Mining Corporation, the planned exploration of other mining corporations and mining-instigated militarization under the command of 10th Infantry Division, citing as reasons for their resistance on the destruction that large-scale mining operations brought on people's livelihoods and local ecosystems,” said Francis Morales, spokesman for the Panalipdan.

He said Sarmiento, 39, was shot five times.

Soldiers from the 28th Infantry Battalion arrested and interrogated Sarmiento on July 16 after accusing him either as a supporter or a member of the New People’s Army rebels and his being active in anti-mining campaigns in Midnanao, according to Morales.

"This is a typical mode of operation of the military in implementing the Oplan Bantay Laya 2 in the rural areas of Compostela Valley wherein activist leaders were maligned and demonized first before being killed," he said.

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government’s counter-insurgency operations in the Philippines aimed at wiping out the NPA by 2010. The military denied any links in the killing of Sarmiento.

About two dozen environmental activists had been killed in recent years, according to the independent Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment. (Mindanao Examiner)

KINAIYAHAN, PANALIPDAN

A NIGHT OF SONGS & POETRY ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND PEACE. December 10, 2008 at 6:00 to 12:00, PEOPLE'S PARK IN DAVAO CITY.

This concert will feature songs and art exhibits that will revolve on the theme Environmental Rights is Human Rights.

Davao - based artists will be performing their own compositions and songs, such as Ciudad Sitiada, Liso, Arangkagana, Oyayi and many more.Songs in the environmental album Rapu-rapu sung by artists Aiza Seguerra, Cookie Chua, Lolita Carbon, Chikoy Pura and other artists will be performed.

In exchange for the opportunity to watch the concert, entrance fees shall be encouraged to be in Any of the following goods: 1 kilo rice, 3 cans of sardines, 6 packs noodles, 1 kilo mongo beans, and 1 kilo of dried fish.

As this concert aims to raise the needed relief goods for the communities affected by the presence of mining, dam and other projects, we shall be encouraging the bringing of gifts on the concert date.

For more details, please contact 09105248579 and 09283417525.