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Press Statement 28 January 2006
In the early evening of 24 January 2006, Mateo Morales was shot and killed at his home in Brgy. Dona Flavia, San Luis, Agusan Del Sur province. Morales was a talented and dedicated indigenous rights worker of the Religious of the Good Shepherd's Tribal Filipino Ministry, which assists Banwaon and Manobo tribal communities in Agusan del Sur.
His brutal and cowardly murder is one of the latest incidents in a systematic program of violence and intimidation that began last year, directed against the Tribal Filipino Ministry and its partner communities.
Among the reported incidents are the following:
- On the night of 17 November 2005, unidentified armed men tried unsuccessfully to break into the home of a community leader linked to the Ministry, while he slept inside. Prints of combat boots were found around the house the next morning. The armed men returned that night, and this time succeeded in forcing their way into the house, but the leader had fled by then.
- On the night of 24 November 2005, a motorcycle driver closely associated with the Ministry was shot and wounded by a member of the military-backed Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU).
- In the afternoon of 9 December 2005, another member of the CAFGU publicly threatened another community leader, warning the latter that if he does not sever his ties with the Ministry, he will be killed.
- In the late morning of 22 January 2006, a member of the CAFGU pointed his pistol at the chest of a civilian, saying the latter was somehow connected to the religious sisters managing the Ministry. Fortunately, a female bystander interposed herself between the two men, and the civilian was able to flee.
- Just one day after Morales' murder, in the early morning of 26 January 2006, two unidentified armed men tried to gain entry into the house where the Ministry's coordinator for its education program was sleeping, but failed.
These acts of violence and intimidation show the lengths that elements in the local military and CAFGU units will go to, to shut down the Tribal Filipino Ministry. This is their response to the Ministry's consistent, vocal denunciations of human rights violations committed by elements of military and paramilitary units against members of tribal communities, during the 26 years it has worked in Agusan del Sur.
Until now, local military and paramilitary units have generally employed indirect means of attacking the Tribal Filipino Ministry. Last year, for example, the military filed criminal charges for rebellion against Sister Mary John Dumaug, RGS, who directs the Ministry's programs. Many observers, including Church officials, were surprised at this reversion to Martial Law tactics. Fortunately, the case was thrown out of court because of the clear lack of evidence to support the charges.
This time, however, members of the Tribal Filipino Ministry's staff, as well as community leaders working with them for their villages' development, are methodically being targeted. The parallels with the dark days of Martial Law are even more blatant, and more troubling.
In this light, it comes as no surprise then that the local police investigated none of these incidents, not even the attempted murder of the motorcycle driver or the fatal shooting of Morales. They did not even bother to respond to the killing of Morales, and days after the incident, they have to take any action at all.
All of these facts strongly indicate the national government's loss of control over sections of the military and its paramilitary arm and its inability to maintain peace and order in parts of the country. Nothing so clearly demonstrates the failure of the administration's vision of a strong republic more clearly than the apparent power of the military and its paramilitary henchmen to kill whosoever displeases them, in defiance of the laws and Constitution of our republic.
What makes this all the more tragic is that their latest victim, Mateo Morales, has devoted himself, through many years of public and community service, to genuine community development. In fact, Morales has shifted from his position as assistant to the Tribal Filipino Ministry's Coordinator, to the post of administrator of the Lumad Infirmary Hospital in Brgy. Balit, San Luis, where he could continue helping the people. With his death, it is not only Mateo Morales' family or co-workers who suffer loss and grief, but the poor and the powerless people of tribal villages he served with his gifts and skill, his humor and his heart.
We call on our government officials to demonstrate their concern for order and public safety by reining in the CAFGU units in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, and punishing any military officers or men who in any way supported, tolerated or allowed their rampaging disrespect for the sanctity of life.
More specifically, we demand a serious investigation of the murder of Mateo Morales, as well as all other related incidents, and the punishment of all those found directly or indirectly responsible. We demand that the CAFGU units in San Luis, Agusan del Sur be immediately disarmed and disbanded, having shown themselves incapable of obeying the law they were to uphold. We demand that the police officials of San Luis be punished for their continuing inaction. We demand that the military respect the human and developmental rights of indigenous communities, and of the people who work with them for their upliftment.
Let peace and order be restored. Let our government officials assert civilian control over the military. Let justice be done for Mateo Morales, and for the people he loved and served.
Contact Person:
Atty. Augusto B. Gatmaytan
Ancestral Domain Organizing Program
Religious of the Good Shepherd Tribal Filipino Ministry
Contact No.09213681740
Posted on 2006-02-07
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