Lumads in Surigao are victims of greed, say Tandag bishop, priests

The Diocese of Tandag in Surigao Del Sur has pointed to a possible relation between the indigenous people's opposition to mining and forest activities, and the violence that has so far resulted in the deaths of at least three lumad leaders and the displacement of thousands in the provnce.

In a pastoral letter posted on the website of Catholic church-run Radio Veritas, Bishop Nereo Odchimar and the priests of Tandag condemned the harassments and the killings.

They also called for the disaming and the arrest of the members of the Magahat-Bagani, the paramilitary group allegedly behind the violence against the indigenous peoples in the province.

"As Priests of the Diocese of Tandag, together with our Bishop, we all strongly condemn the terrorization, harassments and the killings of our Lumad brothers and sisters, as well as denounce the root cause of it all," the pastoral letter said.

The Catholic leadership in Tandag said that "a deeper analysis of the situation, it is possible that this series of incidents of threats and harassments could have ceased long ago if there was no one behind all this."

"One can see and understand that only those community of Lumads who firmly stand to protect the forest and reject mining activities and anything that destroys nature were obviously the ones being hounded and intimidated supposedly by the aforementioned notorious group," the pastral letter read.

"Gathering all these, we can say that all this could be a work that has been extensively planned. Our indigenous people who, ever since, have been one with Nature, have lived in and survived out of their land of heritage, are now victims of those who are hungry and greedy for power and wealth," it added.

GMA News Online is trying to get a comment from the mining sector as of posting time. —NB, GMA News