Silence in the face of injustice lamented
Tabuk City, Kalinga –The Kalinga-Apayao Religious Sector Association (KARSA), an association of clergymen in the province, condemned the murder of an immigrant landowner in Calbayan, Pinukpuk, Kalinga which they said was perpetrated “by those who want to take his land from him.”
In a statement, the clergymen said that the murder of Gabriel Pasay-an was “totally unacceptable to the Christian community” much more because the act was due “to greed for a piece of land they do not own.”
“KARSA joins the family and the community in calling for the police forces to do their job and further investigate the killing to bring the killers to justice. If such killings are left unresolved and criminals roam free, what Godless society we will be?” the KARSA’s statement said.
Rev. Luis Aoas, who handed a copy of the statement to this correspondent, informed that the belief that the killing of Pasay-an has something to do with his land arises from the facts that it is well known some people are trying to grab a part of the property and on the other hand, he has no known enemies.
A former KARSA chairman and an active peace maker, Aoas lamented that so far, KARSA is only one of two groups which has expressed outrage over the crime and is seeking justice for it which, according to him, is the usual scenario when a member of the immigrant community is at the receiving end of injustice.
Aoas said that the fear and silence of immigrants whenever one of them is murdered, deprived of his land or forced to pay exorbitant multa or indemnity only emboldens notorious members of native Kalinga tribes who are behind the unjust and oppressive acts.
Aoas said that the murder of Pasay-an is the third land conflict-related killing against an immigrant in recent years which came to his attention stating that in one of the first two cases, the immigrant was shot to death some days after the court decided the land case in his favor.
He said that just like in the case of Pasay-an, the people contesting the ownership of the land in the first two cases were native Kalingas.
Aoas said that over the years, many immigrant landowners in the province specially in Tabuk City have decided to leave due to fear of being harmed on account of their land.
Aoas said that if instead of suffering in silence due to fear, immigrants just rally around the victims or targeted members and speak out with one voice against the injustice and oppression, the situation would change.
Aoas said that in some instances, it is just as simple as calling attention to the case just like the recent attempt of members of a native tribe to enter the estate of an immigrant in barangay Bulanao which was foiled when the owner asked the help of the barangay council and the peace negotiators.
Aoas said that there are already instance in the past when attempts to impose exorbitant and unjust indemnity on immigrants whose vehicles figure in accidents were stopped because people rallied around the latter.
He mentioned than in one instance, the P1M demand of the tribe of a Kalinga professional who sustained injuries in a vehicular accident did not materialize because members of the Igorot (non-Kalinga) community along with sympathetic Kalinga personalities stood up for the owner of the vehicle.
“If we are afraid to stand up for ourselves and for others, then the injustices inflicted on immigrants will continue. All it takes is for immigrants to bond together and just speak up in the face of injustice. They do not need to fight back but just speak up because that is enough to make those planning to wrong them think twice. But if fear will prevail each time, then evil will triumph. I still believe that good overcomes evil and one of the means of accomplishing that is to speak up and stand up for one’s rights,” Aoas said.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
