Two Catholic dioceses in the Philippines have condemned atta-cks against ethnic tribal people who attempted to save their ancestral land from grabbing by a private corporation in the Min-danao region.
The reactions from Malayba-lay diocese and Cagayan de Oro archdiocese came after guards posted by a private company alle-gedly fired shots at members of the tribal Lumad community at Barangay Butong in Bukidnon province on Nov. 22 as they tried to harvest root crops that they planted.
Lumad is a collective term for indigenous people concentrated in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.
Six guards reportedly approa-ched them while pointing fire-arms, forcing them to leave the area at once.
“We cannot go back to our land because their guards won’t allow us.”
“More than three of them opened fire. We were nervous be-cause we could see the soil spla-tter after being hit by bullets,” Angel Pilutiin, an ethnic Lumad, told.