THE COALITION of Ateneans for Indigenous Peoples (CAIP), along with the Sanggunian, the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo, and the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA), organized an interfaith prayer vigil for the citizens of Mindanao.
Students and teaching and non-teaching personnel gathered at the Science Education Complex field, then participated in a solidarity walk towards Gate 2.5.
On April 1, farmers in Kidapawan were protesting against the prevalent hunger issues and drought by blocking the Davao-Cotabato Highway. Later on, members of the Philippine National Police opened fire at them, leaving several protesters wounded and dead.
The Commission on Human Rights is currently investigating the said incident, and expects to release an official investigatory report within two weeks.
In solidarity
CAIP Head Dane Ancheta stated that the solidarity walk allowed participants to share in the suffering and trials of the people in Kidapawan.
“We want to walk with them, we want to show others na, we come together as a community to share in their suffering, to share in their trials,” she said.
Ancheta also mentioned that the prayer vigil served as segue way to announcing that the CRUSADA will be accepting donations for the people of Mindanao.
“Aside from coming together and knowing about the issue and praying for rain, this is also a call for further help that we can give. We realized how important this accepting of donations is,” she stated.
As of press time, no date has been set for the start of acceptance of donations.
CRUSADA Premier Mark Legaspi added that the prayer vigil was held to raise awareness on the issue.
“There’s a bigger issue that arose: The bigger problem of drought in Mindanao, and we should raise that concern to a national level,” he stated.
Legaspi also stated that, although the inconsistencies in the stories released by different news reporters and contacts in Kidapawan and the lack of an official investigation report have prevented people from pinpointing the offender/s in the incident, the reason behind the prayer vigil does not lie in the condemnation of these offender/s.
“Sa ngayon, siguro, ang prayer vigil na ‘to ay para makiramay at sabihin natin, yun nga, ang point nito ay hindi para masisihin tayo, hindi point nito na parang, ‘let’s point a finger to someone, and blame one person’ (For now, this prayer vigil is for sympathizing, and for us to say that the point of this is not for us to blame others, and not for us to say, ‘let’s point a finger to someone, and blame one person’),” he added.
With reports from Thea A. Siscar
