The last four years for Lumad students like Inday and Toper seemed like a tug-of-war struggling for their right to learn, and fighting for their return to their ancestral lands.
“It hurts to see our school built on our unity as a community being shut down. It hurts that they are not respecting our rights.”
“They told me we wouldn’t be released unless we admit to being rebels.” — Lumad teacher
“It was indeed very enriching for me to be given the opportunity to teach the Lumad Junior and Senior High-School students. Likewise, it was very heart-wrenching as I had learned many things from them especially in their narratives of struggles to uphold ownership of their ancestral lands and their way of life as well as their fight for self-determination and liberation from the shackles of their oppressors.”
“The Lumad students went to Cebu to escape the repression brought about by the militarization in Mindanao only to experience continuing harm. It is the relentless attacks perpetrated by no less than the government that is wreaking violence in the lives of Lumad youths who only seek to go to school and learn.”
“The terror law is added ammunition to the existing arsenal of repressive laws against the Indigenous and Moro people. This is a mockery to the exercise of our fundamental rights”
By DEE AYROSO
The group noted that the so-called fact-finding team formed by the Education department did not even visit any of the 54 campuses.
Kung magiging katulad na ng iba pang mga taga-patag na Kristiyano ang mga katutubo sanhi ng ‘pag-unlad’ o ‘development’ na ipinapahayag ng mga nasa pamahalaan, ano na ang mangyayari sa katutubong kultura, paniniwala, kalinangan, wika, at pamamaraan ng pamumuhay ng mga lumad, ng mga Moro, ng mga taga-Kordilyera at ng mga Mangyan? Ano ang pag-unlad kung mabubura naman ang kanilang lipunan dahil lalamunin lamang ito ng mga kalinangang kanluranin?
In today’s celebration, Lumad school children took turns in hugging the former lawmaker, thanking him for being an inspiration to their struggle for their rights and for their ancestral domains.
Nang isinasara na ang paaralan gamit ang kahoy, pako at martilyo, nakatutok ang mga armas sa sino mang lumapit. Banta ng Alamara sa mga guro at estudyante, “Kung hindi kayo aalis ngayong araw, may mangyayari.”