Red-baiting of schools

BAYAN MUNA partylist strongly condemned  the military-backed closure order of a lumad school by a village chief in Kitaotao, Bukidnon.

The Fr. Fausto Tentorio Memorial School in Barangay White Culaman in Kitaotao town, Bukidnon  was ordered closed in October by Barangay Captain Felipe Cabugnason because of alleged ties with the New People’s Army (NPA).

This is a brazen anachronistic red-tagging tactic made by the military  and echoed by  local government officials in the pursuit of the government’s already discredited counter-insurgency operations.

It is a tragedy that the efforts made by some support organizations and the lumads themselves to break free from their marginalization is now being attacked.

The Fr. Fausto Tentorio Memorial School was established in memory of the late Italian missionary and lumad advocate , Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, who was murdered on Oct. 10, 2011 in Arakan town, North Cotabato by suspected members of the military-backed Bagani paramilitary group. Fr. Tentorio, a staunch environmentalist and anti-large scale mining advocate, was also responsible for the establishment of several lumad schools in in the hinterland areas of North  Cotabato, Bukidnon and other areas of Mindanao.

Fr. Tentorio sustained 10 gunshot wounds from 9mm weapon. He was brought to Antipas Medical Specialists Hospital in Cotabato but was pronounced dead on arrival.

In 2003, Fr. Pops wrote how he was almost killed by the Bagani Force who planned to ambush him in Kitaotao, where he was scheduled to visit the lumad community. The lumads lured the militia men away from the community and the lumad women hid Fr. Pops in a cabinet to spare him from the guns of the Bagani.

He wrote in 2003: “They told me that these men belong to the group called Bagani, that they come from outside the area, and that their intention was to harm me, specifically by throwing hand grenades at me while I am passing by. This information was not new to me. In fact, I heard it the day before.”

Fr. Pops had spent 32 years among the lumads.

In the closure of these lumad schools,  it is the children who suffer most. The right to education of the indigenous peoples, especially in Mindanao, have long been neglected by the government; it is one of the causes of their marginalized  condition until now.

Education is a right. It is laudable that lumad advocates have put up these schools on their own, despite risks and hardships, while the government keeps on cutting corners on the education budget. It is condemnable that the military is determined to keep the lumad children out of school.

It can be recalled that  Barangay While Culaman is also the site of a Gestapo-like  raid conducted last Aug. 27 by the military and the police where at least  13 lumad and peasants,  including a mother and his 12-year old son,  were illegally arrested. All 13 have since been released from jail after  the Regional Trial Court in Bukidnon dropped the trumped-up charges against them for lack of merit.

The two Bayan Muna solons said the continued vilification and red-baiting of the school run by  the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (Misfi) poses danger to the teachers, students, and other residents.

It is a grave cause of concern that the village chief himself echoes the military’s line.  It is dangerous for the students, teachers, and the supporters of this school. We don’t want another Lianga Massacre to happen.

The closure of Fr. Pops’ school is emblematic of how the state of impunity in Mindanao is heightened more than ever. Four years after his death, his legacy of improving the lives of the lumad people is still under attack.

We also reiterate calls during the  budget deliberations for  education officials to be pro-active in protecting the existence of lumad schools. We call on the Department of Education to enact measures to protect the lumad students and their teachers. It is their mandate to educate lumad people and support efforts for their education.

The military and their misguided minions should cease the red-baiting of lumad schools. The accusations of the military of individuals, organizations, and schools of having links with the NPA are the culprit in the spate of lumad killings in Mindanao. –Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Rep. Neri Colmenares, Bayan Muna