DAVAO CITY, March 7, 2009 – The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) has appealed to the national government to take into consideration the recent harassment and detention of Sr. Stella Matutina, OSB by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Cateel, Davao Oriental last month.
Recently, the Sisters Association of Mindanao (SAMIN) has also issued the same call even as they condemned what they termed as, “a shameless insolence towards human rights, the rule of law and the mission of the Church.”
Sr. Julita Encarnacion, m.a., RMP –Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) coordinator also said that they are horrified for the political repression which has defined the human rights landscape, today has again descended its evil specter among the church-people and environmental advocates.
“We demand for justice and we call on a speedy and an impartial investigation on the blatant violation of the dignity and human rights of Sr. Matutina and that of her companions,” said Encarnacion.
The military also issued an earlier statement that they welcome the investigation conducted by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the matter of abuses conducted by the military. Sr. Matutina of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters and three environmental advocates Maria Fe Matibo, Wenceslao Mapa and Gil Sentinales were illegally arrested, arbitrarily detained, and harassed by the military in the Barangay Hall of Taytayan, Cateel, Davao Oriental last February 16.
“We cannot say that we are relieved by the statement of the military. We are concerned with how they can justify intimidation, arrest and detention as simple inquiry on their part; worse, the 67th Infantry Batallion came up with a script that a “fake nun” is circulating around the hinterlands,” she said.
In a statement also issued by the RMP it said, “taking a strong stance on behalf of Sr. Matutina, we strongly condemn this attack on our dignity by Lt. Soriao of the 67th IB. This atrocity against those who consistently protect the environment and help alleviate the plight of the poor only shows how the AFP and its chief, Pres. Arroyo, tolerate, encourage, and considers as policy the Martial Law-like trampling of our rights as church people and missionaries advocating for an end in the pollution of our country’s lands and rivers and the deprivation of the peasant’s land and livelihood.”
“The current harassment against our co-worker, environmental and human rights advocates in Southern Mindanao Region is not an isolated incident. As human rights violations escalate, the intention is clear: to terrorize and silence local residents and attempt to quell their opposition against the capitalists’ aggression in the face of large-scale mining, massive logging activities and plantations,” read the statement.
The RMP –SMR is a sub-regional chapter of the RMP national organization, which is inter-congregational and inter-diocesan in character, of women and men religious, priests and lay people. It was founded in 1969 by the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines (AMRSWP), to forge a church response to the social volcano that was Rural Philippines. (Mark S. Ventura)
