In time of International Students Day, peace advocates network Kalinaw Metro Manila and alternative Lumad schools support group Save Our Schools Network (SOS) held a symbolic Christmas tree lighting and unveiling in Mendiola on November 17.
Bakwit [evacuee] students from alternative Lumad schools in Mindanao and children who lost their homes in the October demolition in East Bank Manggahan Floodway in Pasig led the lighting of the ‘krisis-mas’ tree.
According to Kalinaw Metro Manila convener Patricia Cierva, “the gathering of those displaced and torn away from their homes in the urban and rural cannot speak louder of a society in deep crisis and a social system in decay.”
“With the displacements and the fascism experienced by the people, the Duterte government has robbed these families and these children, as well, of their childhood. With this circumstance, it should be in our initiative to actively campaign against the injustice our countrymen suffer,” she added.
More than 100 students from the alternative Lumad schools in Mindanao have been camping out in UP Diliman, where they continued holding classes, since July. The Lumad were forced to leave their communities due to aerial bombings and militarization, that saw a spike since Martial Law was declared in Mindanao in May. They recently moved their campout to the Department of Education National Office in Pasig, they said, after learning that the military with some government officials in their provinces and regions are working to revoke the accreditation of their schools for ‘not operating’ since the Lumads have evacuated.
Meanwhile, the urban poor from Manggahan Floodway, Pasig started their homeless camp in Mendiola on October 25 to protest the demolition of 1,000 homes by the local government and the inaction of the national government. More than 500 families remain homeless after their homes were torn down.
“Despite the state’s neglect and depravity of our basic rights, we shall continue to struggle to keep this season fruitful and empowering,” Cierva said.
The group also announced the beginning of a series of activities under that would lead to a caravan, dubbed ‘Paskuhang Bakwit’, to national minorities displaced by mining and militarization this December.
The said Paskuhang Bakwit is a gift giving campaign, which aims to invite the youth to partake in civic and volunteer activities in the refugee camps in Mindanao this Christmas season.
