PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 18, 2013) – Filipino religious leaders and human rights advocates have finished a solidarity mission in the southern Philippine town of Bayog and organizers called on President Benigno Aquino to look into the reports of unabated killings in the area.
Bishop Antonio Ablon, one of the conveners of the Advocates for Peace, said they have ended a three-day solidarity mission in the town and urged Aquino to act swiftly on reported cases of extrajudicial killings in the town.
“We are urging President Aquino and Mayor Leonard Babasa to immediately act on these reports of extrajudicial killings and investigate deeply so justice may be served to the families of the murdered victims,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The bishop, who belongs to the Diocese of Pagadian City of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, also urged for the protection of witnesses. He did not say how many cases of extrajudicial killings they have recorded, but claimed there are widespread fears among villagers.
He said they also sought a meeting with the town’s mayor, but the politician was busy.
The bishop said the purpose of their mission was “to share compassion and concrete love for the very least, exploited and disadvantaged sector particularly those suffering from the impact of large-scale mining operations.”
The bishop said they held a dialogue with villagers and interviewed some former small-scale miners in the gold rush town of Bayog, where TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. also holds a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement covering some 4,779 hectares.
TVIRD has not begun its mining operations in Bayog, but is now in its advance stage of exploration and is waiting for Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Bishop Ablon said over 100 people participated in the solidarity mission.
Among those who joined the solidarity mission were Bishop Jose Manguiran, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte; and members of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines; the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the human rights group called Karapatan.
Bishop Ablon earlier said he fears for his safety following a July 12 break-in inside his house in Pagadian City. He said his bedroom’s window was forcibly broke into by a still unidentified assailant.
“There was nothing robbed and lost as there was none to be robbed off. However, I feared for my safety right now as it happened while we are preparing for the solidarity mission to the mining area in Bayog town of Zamboanga del Sur,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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