Fr. Geremia, who personally knew Juvy Capion, questioned the apparent apathy of President Benigno Aquino III, who did nothing to stop the killings of lumads, saying, “If you order or allow the military to kill people like Juvy and her children, haven’t you lost your legitimacy? You may find words to justify your rules of engagement, but you cannot justify this crime before God and your people.”
By DANILDA L. FUSILERO
Davao Today
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — Saddened by the brutal killing of Blaan Juvy Capion and her two children, Father Peter Geremia, PIME likened the perpetrators belonging to the biblical character of Cain.
“You have the mark of Cain on your forehead,” Geremia said of the army, the 27th Infantry Battalion, referring to the biblical story from the book of Genesis, where Cain killed his brother Abel.
“If they (soldiers) risked the lives of and killed civilians, then they are no longer soldiers of the Philippines but mercenaries of a foreign company that pays them to kill anyone in their way,” Geremia lamented.
The Italian missionary added that the incident could have been diffused if the national government acted immediately over the growing opposition of the tribes against Sagittarius Mines, Inc.-Xstrata mining concessions in the areas of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur. The Blaan’s, Tirurays and other tribes “have nowhere else to go. They must protect their remaining ancestral lands from SMI’s intrusion,” Geremia added.
Geremia, who personally knew Juvy Capion, questioned the apparent apathy of President Benigno Aquino III, who did nothing to stop the killings of lumads, saying, “If you order or allow the military to kill people like Juvy and her children, haven’t you lost your legitimacy? You may find words to justify your rules of engagement, but you cannot justify this crime before God and your people.”
Geremia said that Juvy was part of a fleeing group of Blaans who sought refuge in the forested boundaries of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan towns Sur after logging guards hunted their tribe. Geremia, who was the parish priest of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat at that time, helped Juvy’s tribe to re-occupy their ancestral lands.
“Get your share of blood; your gold and millions are soaked in blood,” Geremia told off SMI-Xstrata in strong condemnation of their operations in their lands.
Juvy was the wife of Daguil Capion, a Blaan leader who led a pangayaw (tribal war) against the SMI-Xstrata mining corporation years ago.
During the time of his family’s murder, Daguil was tending to his crops some 200 meters away. In a statement from the 10th Infantry Division, they admitted that they were in the area after reports reached them that Daguil was there. They claimed that they did not know his family was with him when they conducted their pursuit operations.
According to indigenous people’s party-list group Katribu, the killing of Juvy and of her two sons aged seven and 13 makes a total of 25 lumads killed under the Aquino administration. Katribu says that many of these killings are directly connected with the Aquino-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Peace and Development program Oplan Bayanihan.
Geremia, now joins the widespread call from church groups and civil society for justice for the Capion family. The Italian priest condemned the massacre saying that the military perpetrators betrayed their mandate and their constitutional oath to protect civilians.
In related development, the provincial lumad federation Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa Cotabato (ASLPC) also lambasted the AFP’s Oplan Bayanihan Peace and Development program for risking the lives of lumads.
“Peace and development at the expense of our tribe? We are peace-loving people. It is the big corporations with the backing of national government and the military who intruded into our ancestral domain, breaking-down and disrespecting our customs and our distinct governance system,” ASLPC’s Bai Norma Capuyan said. (Danilda L. Fusilero/ davaotoday.com)
