For the Lumad Children

It was in 2012, when I was assigned in Mindanao for the first time, that I had my first encounter with the Lumads in Surigao Del Sur. We found out about how the Manobo school children in Sitio Liangabon, Barangay Calatngan, San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, would resort to using charcoal and banana leaves, for lack of school supplies. And so we gathered school supplies – notebooks, pad paper, pencils, ball pens and slippers and brought it to the community in Sitio Liangabon.

Recently, there was news of Lumad killings in Surigao Del Sur and our indigenous brothers and sisters had to abandon their schools and their communities because of these incidents of killings. I turned to the internet and did some research. I found out that Surigao Del Sur is rich in gold and other mineral resources. I came across one picture with a caption, “Those in power deny us Lumads education because it would empower us to protect the environment.” This was a quote from Michelle Campos, daughter of slain Lumad leader Dionel Campos. Dionel Campos was killed last month by allegedly paramilitary elements in Lianga, Surigao Del Sur, along with another Lumad leader and the executive director of an alternative learning center for indigenous peoples. Campos led a Lumad organization protesting mining operations, land conversions and plantations.

I remember having met Datu Onyon, a tribal leader in Sitio Liangabon, who told me that their land is their marketplace and their drugstore. It is where they get their food and their medicine. That is why they will never allow mining activities in their area.

October is the month of the Rosary, and I have been invited by a couple of schools in General Santos City to celebrate first Friday mass and a mass for the feast of the Rosary. Since the Catholic Church in the Philippines is celebrating the Year of the Poor, I thought it is an opportunity to take action on behalf of our poor Lumad brothers and sisters in Surigao Del Sur, who are now in temporary shelters in Tandag City’s sports complex.

And so I asked the campus ministers of the schools if it is possible to request the students to offer school supplies, instead of the usual canned goods and instant noodles that they offer during the mass. We had tarpaulins printed out from Black Pencil Project’s on-going campaign to gather school supplies for the Lumad school children affected by the conflict in Mindanao. Incidentally, I am one of the core group members of Black Pencil Project, a social media based volunteer organization that help school children in remote and conflict areas with basic tools for learning, like pencils and pad paper.

In my homily, I mentioned the background on why they were asked to offer school supplies, and who will benefit from them. At the end of the mass, we were able to gather enough pencils, ball pens, notebooks, pad papers and rulers that we will bring to the Lumad children in temporary shelters in Tandag City. We hope to bring our little help for the Lumad children’s education by the middle of November.

(For those who would like to donate school supplies, donations may be brought to the Spirituality Center of San Pedro College of Davao City or Davao Catholic Herald Office, San Pablo Parish Church compound, Juna Subdivision, Matina, Davao City)

Image source: Black Pencil Project