DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 21, 2012) – The United Church of Christ in the Philippines said it would launch a two-day national caravan against large-scale mining and impunity in the country.
Pastor Jay Sichon said some 1,000 ordained bishops, pastors and lay church workers under the nationwide membership of the UCCP will join the caravan as part of the United Church Workers Organization Encounter 2012.
“The UCCP, through this national caravan, affirms the mission and vision of our church to uphold justice, peace and integrity of creation in the service of God and the people. The UCCP stands in solidarity with the Filipino people in opposing the massive influx of large-scale mining which has caused the severe deterioration of the environment and led to the perpetuation of militarization, human rights violations such as displacement, landlessness and poverty, and killings against those who stand in the way of aggressors,” Sichon said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Organizers said the Luzon and Visayas delegation will arrive in Davao City. It kicked off Saturday with an environmental and human rights concert dubbed as “Huni Sa Kinaiyahan.”
The caravan will also hold a liturgy as part of its condemnation for the October 17 killings of three members of a tribal family – Juvy and her sons Pop and John Capion – by army soldiers in South Cotabato’s Tampakan town, and other mining-related killings prevalent in Mindanao.
The pastor said the family fought for their ancestral lands in Tampakan town where mining companies operates.
Sichon said the killings are another testament to the continuing impacts of mining on social justice and human dignity. “The massacre of the Capion family is highly condemnable (sic) and justice must be delivered to the victims who have staunchly stood up against mining in defense of their ancestral land,” he said.
Soldiers, from the 27th Infantry Battalion, including their commander Lt. Col. Alexis Bravo, are now being investigated for the killings. The military’s 10th Infantry Division said the soldiers clashed with communist rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
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