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NEWS
AT A GLANCE
Church
group calls for ringing of bells,
noise barrage during Bush visit
If
Catholic Bp. Socrates Villegas said a week ago that he prefers to wage a
“campaign of silence” amid political turmoil in the country, members of the
Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) believe otherwise.
Rev.
Fr. Allan Arcebuche, OFM, spokesperson of the PCPR said over the weekend: “We
will be far from silent, in fact we are calling on the Church leaders, clergy
and laity, to lead the nationwide protest through noise barrage during Bush’s
8-hour visit on Oct. 18. The ringing of Church bells and other forms of noise
barrage are also symbolic of our demand for the U.S. government to return
immediately the historic Balangiga bells and to offer official public apology
for the massacre of thousands of Filipinos since the Filipino-American War in
1899.”
“We
cannot be silent when these are times that the loud prophetic voice of the
Church is much needed,” the PCPR further said. “To stop Bush from his
immoral and illegal occupation of Iraq and other countries, and to stop our own
government from supporting the US-led wars of aggression and welcoming the
return of US military presence in our country.”
The
group will also lead inter-faith prayer rallies for peace to express
Muslim-Christian solidarity against the U.S.-sponsored all-out war in Mindanao,
the so-called Balikatan exercises and “other schemes of blatant US
intervention in Mindanao and the whole country.”
The
U.S. is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines en route to Bangkok, Thailand
where he will attend the APEC summit.
*
* *
Good
Shepherd Sisters of Mindanao Decry Harassment
In
Mindanao, southern Philippines last week, the Committee on Women, Justice, Peace
and Integrity of Creation of the Good Shepherd Sisters debunked allegations by
the Philippine military against a member of their congregation.
Col.
Leopoldo Maligalig, commander of the Philippine Army's 402 Infantry Battalion
based in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, had earlier said that Sister Juana
“John” Dumaug has “friendly liaison” with a certain Pfc Quirante of the
29th Infantry Battalion. Quirante has reportedly defected to the New People’s
Army.
Sr.
Dumaug who has been asked by the Good Sheperds to work with the Banwaons and
Manobos, has been tagged by the military as a "leftist
sympathizer."
*
* *
MILF
cadres reject ‘autonomy,’ vow to continue fighting
Commanders
of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last week vowed to continue the
struggle for freedom and self-determination if the government persists in
imposing autonomy as solution to the Mindanao problem.
The Macapagal-Arroyo government, in its peace talks with the MILF in Kuala
Lumpur in October, is proposing "enhanced autonomy" as solution to the
Moro armed struggle.
"Autonomy is likened by several peoples to a dry fish allowed to swim in a
fishpond," said Ameril Umbra Kato, one of the MILF commanders who fought
against the all-out wars launched by the government.
Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF Peace Panel Secretariat, said the Bangsamoro
civil society, led by the Bangsamoro People's Consultative Assembly, wants
complete independence through referendum under the auspices of the United
Nations.
Meanwhile, Eid Kabalu, speaking for the MILF field commanders, said the
continued military campaign launched by the government troops has been reported
in known Moro communities despite a ceasefire agreement.
"This
really saddles the resumption of the formal peace talks," warned Kabalu who
once headed the MILF Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).
Bulatlat.com
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