“Here in Manila, the Apec leaders meet, while we, the indigenous peoples, are being shooed and driven away. We have the anlasiw to show our strong unity as fighting people from Northern and Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and Mindanao. We will continue to unite against the US-Aquino regime.”
“As an international organization for peoples’ struggles, we stand with the indigenous peoples, the oppressed people, the workers who have a stake in supporting each other in the struggle.”
“This shows how desperate Aquino is to silence our calls to junk Apec, all for his masters.”
“You think you can hide the people’s protest? But as we leave Liwasang Bonifacio, we move closer to the venue of the summit.”
“The Mines and Geosciences Bureau will play its role in this callousness by further ignoring the impunity of large-scale miners in Mindanao and elsewhere in the Philippines, to perpetuate the lie of peace and economic development in the mining industry.”
“If he is dead, return his remains to his family. We just want him back.”
“Research takes sides, too and it does not make it unscientific.”
Two weeks after the Manilakbayan arrived in Manila, another Lumád leader was killed by a paramilitary group, the Alamara, in Davao del Norte province.
The Manilakbayan ng Mindanao continues to get support in spite of being called “unsightly, unsanitary, and infiltrated with threat groups.”
“Justice can’t be bought with politicking, with cheap tricks.”
“We are being driven out of our ancestral lands, now, even here at Liwasang Bonifacio, we are also being evicted?”