09 December 2015, Cagayan de Oro City—An interfaith network supporting the indigenous peoples in their fight for their rights is launched today at the Philtown Hotel.
Named ‘Higala sa Lumad’ [Friends of the Lumads] Network, the higalas will help protect indigenous communities – ‘Lumad’ being the collective term for the indigenous peoples of Mindanao - primarily through campaign popularization.
Its members are composed of individuals and organisations from various denominations that will be monitoring the rights situation of the communities and will conduct quick response activities when needed. These activities include fact-finding missions, lobbying, legal support, and online campaigns among others.
“We have gathered over a hundred supporters not only from the Philippines but also from other countries the campaigns on indigenous peoples’ rights have reached,” said Atty. Czarina Golda Musni, core group member of the ‘Higala sa Lumad’.
The network is created under the ‘Healing the Hurt’ Project, an initiative aimed at addressing marginalization issues of the Lumad. One of its components hopes to increase financial, material and other forms of support for the protection and security of indigenous leaders and communities.
The inauguration program starts with a message from the project manager, Sr. Ma. Famita Somogod, MSM. The nun has previously worked with indigenous communities through the literacy and numeracy schools of the Missionary Sisters of Mary.
“As workers in Lumad communities, we have experienced threats and harassments ourselves,” said Sister Somogod. “I am glad that despite the attacks on the Lumad campaigns, many are still convinced that what we are fighting for is right.”
On December 8, the project also inaugurated the Tagtabulon Cooperative at Brgy. Banglay, Langonglong, Misamis Oriental. Its members are from the Higaonon community in Sitios Camansi, Tapol, and Anahaw in Banglay.
The establishment of the cooperatives in indigenous communities is to give them financial capacity to sustain their needs even as they work on their campaigns.
These activities are geared towards the commemoration of the international declaration of December 10 as Human Rights Day. In the previous months, indigenous communities have staged actions, lobbying, and various campaign activities in the region as well as in the national capital to decry the escalation of attacks against their schools and communities.
The ‘Healing the Hurt’ Project is one with the Lumad in their fight for their right to their land, to a self-determined development, and their right to continue their living traditions and culture. The project is spearheaded by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao Sub-Region (RMP-NMR) Inc and is supported by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights.