Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Davao City (Agenzia Fides) - "Justice for father Pops" is the name of the new Civil Society Forum, launched this morning in Davao, a major city on the island of Mindanao, to ask for transparency and justice in the murder of Father Fausto Tentorio (affectionately called "Father Pops"), the PIME missionary killed in past days in Arakan. The new forum brings together dozens of civil and religious organizations such as "Exodus for Justice and Peace", the "Rural Missionaries of the Philippines" (of which Father Fausto was a member) numerous other organizations that welcome Catholics and Protestants, human rights associations, indigenous communities, students from Mindanao.
The Forum, thanks to its size, provides a widespread presence in the provinces and villages of Mindanao. This is why it carried out a special fact-finding mission in Arakan, where Fr. Tentorio was killed: the mission provides additional elements to the investigators, especially on the possible implications of elements of the Philippine armed forces and paramilitary groups on the island.
The final report of this "mission on the premises" - sent by the Forum to Fides - states that the missionary, a member of the "Council for Peace and order" in the municipality of Arakan, opposed to the strong military presence that has characterized social life for many years: the government of Benigno Aquino in fact confirmed the allocation of a significant contingent to increase the security of foreign companies engaged in mining activities in Mindanao. Tentorio, say activists, opposed to the "Barangay Defense System", defense network that includes military units scattered in places such as schools and public squares. He was also accused by some military leaders to have treated members of the "New People's Army", the communist guerrillas who infest the area. He was, therefore, "unpopular to the military and especially to the Gantangan paramilitary group", governed by the regular army, formed by recruiting their own soldiers among the tribal communities. The group is accused of murder, violence and harassment towards activists and tribal leaders.
The Forum "Justice for father Pops" after the fact-finding mission, encourages all the witnesses to speak, it calls for a serious investigation on the military forces present in the Arakan area, and their immediate withdrawal from tribal areas. It also urges the government to dismantle the Gantangan paramilitary group and stop the cycle of violence and extrajudicial killings of indigenous communities in Mindanao, which has been going on since the army units have begun to heavily influence the lives and rights of local communities. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2011)
