IPs call for stronger unity with the Church

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BAGUIO CITY — Through a press statement, Beverly Longid, president of the Katribu Partylist said, its officers and members join our Christian brothers and sisters commemorate the annual Tribal Filipino Sunday.

“We appreciate the Church’s continued recognition of our collective and human rights to our ancestral land and identity,” she said.

Longid commended the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) through its Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples (ECIP)  for the theme “Healing for solidarity: asking forgiveness for sins against indigenous peoples ” in this year’s celebration of Tribal Filipino Sunday.

“Such a theme is very timely as the unity of the Church is the strongest asset of the indigenous peoples to change the plight we are currently face. But unity without understanding is null.  Learning from the lessons of past mistakes forges stronger ties,” she added. 

Longid explained that the indigenous peoples have not forgotten their subjugation to foreign power together with the religious chauvinism inflicted upon their forefathers as it created a wound that afflicted generation to generation.  She added that this borne the disunity of the Filipino people with the indigenous peoples including the Moros. She also said this phenomenon justified the plunder of indigenous land and resources, perpetrated discrimination and prejudice to their culture and way or life and barred us from meaningful political, social and cultural participation in society.

“As we try to redeem ourselves from  this historical and institutional  error, we must draw the lesson from this injustice, for repentance and atonement is based on the  understanding our mistakes. This guides us toward a more meaningful relation toward each others,” Longid stressed.

Moreover, Longid called upon the Christian community to join the indigenous peoples in their struggle to  protect our ancestral lands from the foreign plunder and domination. She encouraged the church to uphold indigenous people human rights, promote indigenous culture with respect and dignity and shield it from the decadent influence  of consumerism, commercialization and profit-oriented social system.

“Together with the indigenous peoples,  we can forge a new and better tomorrow,  learning from and rectifying our past mistakes. Together with the Filipino, the Church and the indigenous people can work for a just and peaceful future” she concluded. # KATRIBU release