As a delegation of Indigenous Lumad activists arrives in Portland, the Philippines just got through a national election, which apparently brought Rodrigo Duterte into power as President. The coincidence is significant, as Duterte has been the mayor of Davao City, the largest city of Mindanao where our guests are from, for over 22 years. A flamboyant, populist, macho figure, he has been condemned by human rights organizations for allowing extraducial killings of alleged criminals by vigilante death squads and by feminists for misogynist statements and behavior. But he has also brought marginalized Lumad and Moro people into city government, passed an anti-discrimination ordinance, built a state of the art drug treatment and rehab center and implented other policies that cemented his local, regional and national popularity and set the stage for his successful presidential bid. Hopefully our guests will help shed some light on Duterte during the program.
Guests:
FRANCIS LAMINERO: Executive Director, Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao, launched in 2003 as a response to heightened "war on terror" rhetoric in the southern Philippines. "InPeace" has also been a catalyst for the creation of numerous advocacy groups addressing the root sources of conflict in the country.
NORMA CAPUYAN: Vice-Chairperson of the KALUMARAN, a Mindanao-wide alliance of Indigenous peoples' organizations; Chairperson of the BAI National Indigenous Women's Network and the ASLPC, a local organization of Indigenous peoples. Moste recently, she has been working with peasant and Lumad communities severely affected by months El Nino-fueled drought.
KERLAN FANAGEL: Chairperson, PASAKA, confederation of Lumad organizations in Southern Mindanao Previously, as Secretary-General of PASAKA, he helped grow the organization to its present roster of 338 member organizations in eight provinces. Fanagel is also a cultural worker--writing songs and directing stage productions that tell the story of inter-tribal unity in defence of ancestral lands against militarization and economic plunder.
ANTHONY NAVARRO: Executive Director/Coordinator of Salupongan International, a solidarity network of organizations, institutions and individuals dedicated to the empowerment of marginalized Indigenous and rural communities in the Southern Philippines. Through his work he has helped establish programs to serve the needs of Indigenous schools and communities throught sustainable agricultural projects, potable water systems, and relief for internally displaced Indigenous persons affected by militarization and environmental plunder in Southern Mindanao.
The objectives of the Lakbay Lumad USA tour are as follows:
- To educate people in key audiences in the U.S. and at the U.N. about the situation of politically motivated repression in the Philippines and its links to U.S. foreign policy in the region, with a particular focus on the violence and displacement of Lumad people in Mindanao, on the one hand, and the Lumad people’s resistance to this repression and the big corporate incursions and plunder of their lands on the other hand. This education shall include the five main demands of Lumad communities:
a. arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of human rights violationsb. withdraw AFP troopsc. disband paramilitariesd. stop attacks on schoolse. drop trumped up charges against Lumad leaders
- To inspire individuals and organizations to take immediate action to Stop the Killings, Save Our Schools and Protect Indigenous Life, including providing concrete support to Lumad schools and community projects, and responding to ICHRP US network’s calls to action.
- To build and strengthen relationships with solidarity friends throughout the U.S.
- To promote Lumad culture.
- To raise media visibility of Lumad issues and their connection to U.S. policy
- To challenge candidates in the 2016 Philippine elections to have a “pro-peace with justice, pro-people” program that benefits Lumadcommunities.
- To develop and fortify the working relationships among all current members of ICHRP based in the US, and invite more organizations based in the U.S. to join ICHRP, toward strengthening the basis for forming an ICHRP U.S. Chapter.
The local hosting organizations for the tour are Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (PCHRP) and Gabriela Portland. Here is the Facebook page for the Portland leg of the tour, with complete itinerary: https://www.facebook.com/events/841551885988272/
The delegation will be at Portland State University on Thursday, May 12:
The Lumads: From their Ancestral Land to US
Portland State University
Cascade Room, Smith Memorial Student Union (SMSU) 236
1825 SW Broadway Ave.
Portland, OR 97201
4:30 to 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 14
Your Liberation is Bound to Mine: Uniting Movements Against the TPP
SEIU SE Portland
6401 SE Foster Rd.
Portland, OR 97206
2:00 to 4:00 PM
- KBOO