Letter from Rebecca Lawson in the Philippines
March 27, 2015 - Defending Ancestral Lands
Dear Friends,
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Psalm 34:14
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Father Buyagan makes the people think about the importance of traditional practices during a Peace Conversation in the Cordillera
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Mission co-worker Becca Lawson with a local UCCP pastor visiting a community in Zamboanga, where the Subanen and church people have filed for a Writ of the Environment to stop mining companies from destroying their ancestral lands
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Women's Peace Conversation participants gather for group photo
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Kakay Tolentino introduces herself at the Women's Peace Conversation
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Becca Lawson shows the need for two parties to come together and respect agreements during peace negotiations
As I sat at the breakfast table with a group of 10 indigenous men from around the north-central mountain range of the Philippines known as the Cordillera, the older ones reminisced about the people’s valiant effort to stop the Chico Dam project of the 1970s and '80s. They recalled how everyone in the community was involved, from young to old, men, women and youth. Father Buyagan, a retired Episcopalian priest, grinned with satisfaction as he recounted how the people were united and steadfastly continued their protests. As tribes historically known for being warriors, it was in their blood to fight against the unwanted invaders. He, as a man of the Church, would nod his head as he passed those who were armed and ready to defend their ancestral lands. The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera won that battle; the four proposed hydroelectric dams that would have displaced thousands of indigenous families and submerged their ancestral lands were never built.
Later that morning 60 participants from across the Cordillera shared what is happening in the various provinces where I learned that not much has really changed; now, along with the threat of proposed dams, the region faces multinational corporation mining interests. Once again Father Buyagan became an animated storyteller. He lamented the weakening of traditional practices and values, which makes it much harder to unify the people to defend their ancestral land. As he vividly described it, “When the elders are respected, all they have to do is POINT. A person who is going against the interest of the community will be shamed and will stop.” He went on to explain that as people have been taken away from traditional farming that feeds their families in a local economy, money can talk. A national political system was superimposed upon a tradition of collective leadership by the elders, and in the process the people became more vulnerable to aggression by developers from outside the community.
As I sat and listened during this Peace Conversation Project intended to identify the roots of armed conflict still raging in the Philippines and how these roots manifest as current social problems, I began to think about other indigenous people’s areas that I have visited recently that are being mined by large-scale, foreign mining companies. In Zamboanga, Mindanao, the Subanen people told accounts of how some of their elders have been manipulated and bribed to now say that foreign mining is acceptable, but others have joined with church leaders to secure a Supreme Court Writ for the Environment that has at least temporarily stopped the Toronto Ventures Incorporated–Resource Development (though harassment and other human rights violations continue in the area). In Tampakan, South Cotabato, Mindanao, the Bla’an people declared tribal war against Xtrata-SMI mines, but even with the high-profile, brutal murder of a chieftain’s wife and children in 2012 by Philippine Army soldiers, the gold mine continued to operate with a new primary investor, Glencore Mining.
Fifty indigenous people have been victims of what are called extra-judicial killings in the last five years; these killings are alleged to have been perpetrated by the military, paramilitary and death squads as part of carrying out Philippine state policy as well as the interests of developers. Rabenio Sungit and Jimmy Liguyon, United Church of Christ in the Philippines members, are amongst the martyrs. This aggressive entry and so-called “development” of indigenous people’s ancestral lands not only brings militarization, but it also is often pursued without the consent of the people.
In my most recent Peace Conversation with the women’s sector, I had the opportunity to speak with Kakay Tolentino, a representative of BAI (an indigenous word for women), a women’s indigenous people’s organization. I asked her what she thought about the idea that the elders only need to point, and a person going against the interests of the community will be shamed and stop. Kakay told me that this is similar to her experience as a Dumagat from Quezon, Luzon, and it seems to be the case with most indigenous peoples groups. Elders become elders because of their wisdom and their concern for the community; when they speak, their voice will be followed by everyone. However, she expressed alarm that the traditional ways are changing as many move to nearby cities. Kakay also lamented that even as BAI works to strengthen the respect for indigenous ways and empower indigenous peoples to assert their collective rights, many vocal Indigenous People’s Rights Defenders now face trumped-up lawsuits.
The struggle of the indigenous people to defend their ancestral lands as well as their way of life is far from over. To me, their situation feels much like the Biblical story of David who faces a Goliath—in their case a Goliath of Globalization. The indigenous people are greatly outmatched—vast foreign resources are at the disposal of the foreign plunderers, which sadly often put the local government and military at their disposal. Still, if we Christians from the U.S.A. open up our eyes, we will feel the shame—THE ELDERS ARE POINTING AT US! I can only pray that this pointing will have results like those of the stone that David hurled with a simple slingshot to fell a giant enemy.
Partnership in mission is more relevant than ever; as globalization results in actions taken for our benefit—though usually without our awareness—on other continents, the work of the Church is a potent force for us to feel our impact on other peoples and communities around the world. Thank you for supporting the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Your continued prayers, generous contributions, and courageous conversations make a difference in building links of solidarity between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago.
We need a deeper conversation about what will make for Shalom in all its intended wholeness and fullness of life. If we want Shalom, we Christians from the United States must consider more carefully how the business ventures of wealthy countries tromp on the self-determination and rights of indigenous peoples in places like the Philippines. We should join hands in partnership and discern what is right. We must form bonds of solidarity and work for justice, where the self-determination of indigenous people flourishes and the human dignity and human rights of the poor and oppressed are given priority. We must “seek peace, and pursue it.”
Sincerely yours,
Becca Lawson
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249
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