SunStar February 19, 2021 The story on Lumad children “rescued” in Cebu City should go beyond the debates on the legality of the police operation, the alleged slant of the news by mainstream media and the detention of the teachers and Lumad elders. This episode is just the tip of a bigger issue the legacy of exploitation of the Lumads in Mindanao.
Unlike the Muslims who are united by religion and were able to successfully attain their pursuit of an autonomous region, the Lumads were divided by distance, language, traditions and beliefs, thus, were unable to form a united front against abuses committed to them through decades, if not a century. It was during the founding of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation on June 26, 1986 in Cotabato that they found their voice and their collective grievances.
‘We are defending a sanctuary of learning and of life’
“We will defend the University of the Philippines, our sanctuary, as much as it has defended us,” Lalah, a Grade 12 Lumad student, vowed to a crowd of protesters during a mobilisation at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.
Members of the UP community assembled on 19 January at the steps of the historic Quezon Hall to condemn the unilateral abrogation of the 1989 University of the Philippines-Department of National Defense (UP-DND) Accord, the morning after Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the questionable decision.
The accord lays down the guidelines on military and police entry to all UP campuses. This limits the power of state authorities to interfere with university operations, effectively protecting the freedom of faculty to determine what to teach and how it should be taught, and the freedom of students to think critically without danger. The accord, in other words, asserts UP
SunStar
The new logo of the rebranded resort
Contributed photo
Apex Mining Co. Inc. turns over P200,000 to Barangay Mainit intended for the Baliwa Mainit Hot Waterfalls resort development. In the photo are AMCI personnel led by Emelita C. Fabro, Vice President for Corporate Administration, and Ferdinand B. Dobli, Admin Division Manager, and Brgy. Mainit officials led by Brgy. Captain Michelle B. Lim.
Contributed photo
Apex Mining Co. Inc. turns over start-up capital for livelihood project (kitchen utensils and massage kits) to members of the workers association in the resort last May 19, 2018.
+ January 29, 2021 MOST of us are now eager to go somewhere to get a breather from our daily grind, especially that the pandemic has kept us always to our home.