Editorial: The Church joins Lumads in their appeal for justice
In a show of oneness with the indigenous Lumads who have camped at Liwasang Bonifacio, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila, joined them in their protest last Wednesday. Donning a tribal headgear offered to him by the demonstrators, he stood out in his simple garb as a priest as he posed with the indigenous folk in their colorful native costumes. But there was no doubt that he was one with them in their appeal for peace and justice. As early as last September, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had joined in condemning the raids and the killings in Lumad communities in Mindanao. CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas said it was disturbing how the government had quickly exonerated those alleged to be behind the killings. The killing of three Lumad leaders in Surigao del Sur was blamed on paramilitary forces employed by the Armed Forces to fight [...]