DAVAO CITY – The parish office of the Pro-Cathedral Church in Tubod, Lanao del Norte was ransacked last week by still unidentified suspects.
In a statement, the Diocesan Clergy and the National Priests Organizations said the office clerk of the church discovered last Wednesday morning (October 7) that their parish office was ransacked and the CPU of the computer set is found missing.
“Notably, however, only the CPU was taken from among the other valuable things in the office such as the monitor, printer and other components of the computer set. The slightly used DLP (projector) placed just below the computer set is also spared,” said Reverend Father Jerson R. Nazareno, governor of the National Priests Organizations.
He said a small piece of paper was also found with messages that reads “Jejeje! Pagbantay2x ha!” (Hehehe! Be watchful!) on one side and “Andam2x ha!” (Be ready!) on the other side.
“The Pro-Cathedral is the second cathedral church of the diocese where The Right Rev’d Antonio Nercua Ablon stays, works and oversees his ecclesiastical jurisdiction,” said Nazareno.
The groups believe that the incident was mean to threat and intimidate Ablon who serves as the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Pagadian City, Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
“What could be the motive of the robber in taking only the CPU leaving the other more valuable things such as the DLP? Information. It is therefore surveillance, in the guise of robbery, against Bishop Ablon,” said Nazareno.
“Why left a piece of paper with threatening messages? Threat, intimidation and harassment,” he said.
In July 2013 the bedroom of Bishop Ablon in the Bishop’s House in Pagadian Cathedral was also ransacked with no valuable things taken by the assailant, said Nazareno.
“Bishop Ablon is a staunch human rights, peace and environmental advocate. He is the chairperson of the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights Karapatan in Western Mindanao,” he said.
He said Ablon is one the convenors of the Fact Finding Missions (FFM) in the towns of Midsalip and Bayog in the province of Zamboanga del Sur where destructive large-scale mining concessions are situated.
Nazareno also said Ablon is also “a vocal critic against the anti-people policies of the government such as the Mining Act of 1995, the Pork Barrel especially the People’s Initiative against the Pork Barrel.”
“He also joins the calls of farmers and Indigenous Peoples’ to stop the militarization in the countryside and to give justice to the victims of military atrocities brought about by the Oplan Bayanihan,” he said.
He said before last week’s incident, there were persons looking for the bishop. He said the persons did not identify themselves. (davaotoday.com)
