From: International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines <icchrp@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 13:42:02 +0100
Subject: [PhilConcerns] Mindanao Lumads confer indigenous name "Apo Edsila" on Pope Francis
Apologies for any cross-posting. Thank you for understanding.
LETTER FROM KALUMARAN
Dear Friends,
Greetings!
Attached is our Uranda of the Lumads for Pope Francis.
Uranda is a traditional lumad chant/lyric-poem which, apart from expressing stories of personal yearnings and conquests, is our way of re-telling history and conveying our common aspirations as indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
Through our Uranda, we want the Pope and the whole world to know our plight – that we have become victims of wanton plunder of our ancestral lands by big foreign business projects such as large-scale mining and plantations. This has caused widespread landgrabbing of ancestral domains. With the presence of 60% of government’s armed forces in Mindanao, the twin facet of this sham “development” is the militarization and displacement of our communities and the wholesale violation of our human rights.
We have voiced out these issues in our recent 14-day Manilakbayan ng Mindanao which culminated with the International Human Rights Day on December 10 in Metro Manila; we also made appeals to the Pope for him to help us reverse our plight.
We know that we Lumads differ in our religious belief from that of the Pope. But as our Uranda says, we hope that the Pope “may become the Channel of our prayer to MAGBABAYA, Supreme Deity of all deities…”
The Pope’s message of defense of God’s Creation resonates with the belief of our ancestors since time immemorial. We therefore welcome him into our hearts and in our collective embrace as Lumads.
We may not be able to see him personally but our Uranda is enough for us to connect to Pope Francis, indubitably known now as the People’s Pope.
Respectfully yours,
Dulphing Ogan
Secretary General
Kalumaran Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
Mobile 09128880131
*English translation by Agustin "Don" Pagusara (Palanca awardee)
---------------------------------
Mindanao Lumads to confer indigenous name “Apô Edsila” on Pope Francis
January 16, 2014
TACLOBAN CITY – Lumad leaders will confer on Pope Francis the title Apô (Elder) Edsila today (January 16) here in an event called “Gathering of the Poor” to be witnessed by Catholic sisters and Typhoon Yolanda survivors.
“We are bestowing on him the title Apô Edsila since he is worthy of high esteem with his love for us, indigenous peoples, and for his respect for the values and beliefs that we have held sacred since time immemorial,” says Dulphing Ogan, secretary general of the Mindanao-wide indigenous peoples' group Kalumaran.
“Edsila means ‘light’, ‘sunrise,’ or ‘dawn of a new day’---- all signifying hope, newness, and change,” Ogan said. It is a term used by Higaonon and Talaandig tribes inhabiting the mountains around the Pulangi River in central Mindanao.
The honor will be solemnized by Ogan, a Blaan, and five other Lumad leaders coming from the Bagobo, Manobo, and Higaonon tribes through a ritual, along with around 50 Catholic nuns belonging to the Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN) and a thousand Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors belonging to People Surge. The Panubadtubad will be performed just before the sun sets today, eve of the Pontiff’s visit to Tacloban on January 17.
Ogan said “the Pope’s anticipated encyclical on climate change is a breath of fresh air for indigenous peoples because it will bring the issue of ancestral domains and the violation of our human rights from the margins to the center.”
He added that “the Pope’s indictment of the pitfalls of capitalism is an affirmation of our indigenous values of collectivism and stewardship of Mother Earth.”
Finding relevance in the Pope’s visit to Tacloban with their own issues, Ogan said “The Pope is visiting Tacloban as Haiyan’s ‘ground zero’ because we have defiled many ‘ancestral grounds’ through imperialist plunder such as largescale mining, plantation economies, and other extractive industries.”
“We look up to the Pope to usher in ‘newness’ and transformation in this global system that perpetuates greed, exploitation, and oppression--- the very opposite of mercy and compassion,” Ogan said referring to the theme of the Papal Visit.
“Pope Francis, you are truly worthy to be called our Apô Edsila,” Ogan said.
Ogan says chicken blood will be offered to Magbabaya (the Supreme God of the Lumads) to signify the Mindanao indigenous peoples’ solidarity with the Pope.
He says that along with the offering is an incense “which seeks to drive all the bad spirits away that may bring harm to the people and the Pope and invite the good spirits to protect and guide him in all of his undertakings.”
Ogan says a betel nut, an “apog” (lime) and a seashell will also be offered “as symbols of the heart and compassion of the Lumads in defending and protecting their rights to self-determination and ancestral lands – the same compassion to the poor that the Pope has manifested.”
To go with these symbols is the partaking of a local wine “which stands for the courage and our shared determination as Lumads to carry on the struggle for a dignified and just life,” Ogan adds.
Bagobo chieftain Monico Cayog, 77, speaking in Visayan, added: “I see in Pope Francis the qualities of an elder who is down-to-earth and breaks barriers dividing his esteemed position and the realities of his people. These are characteristics of a true elder.”
Cayog added that “the Pope’s pro-poor and pro-environment principles are akin to an elder’s teachings and wisdom which is centered on people and the Earth.”###
Lumad leaders performed a Panubadtubad ritual at sunset yesterday in Tacloban to confer on the Pope the title "Apo Edsila", meaning 'light', 'dawning of day'. See also their PR below.
INPEACE MINDANAO
Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao
Rm. 101 Kalinaw Center for Interfaith Resources
13 Francisco Avenue, Juna Subdivision, Matina, 8000 Davao City
P H I L I P P I N E S
telefax +63.82.299.4964
email mindainpeace@yahoo.com
website www.kalinaw.com.ph
facebook inpeacemindanao
Dear Friends,
Greetings!
Attached is our Uranda of the Lumads for Pope Francis.
Uranda is a traditional lumad chant/lyric-poem which, apart from expressing stories of personal yearnings and conquests, is our way of re-telling history and conveying our common aspirations as indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
Through our Uranda, we want the Pope and the whole world to know our plight – that we have become victims of wanton plunder of our ancestral lands by big foreign business projects such as large-scale mining and plantations. This has caused widespread landgrabbing of ancestral domains. With the presence of 60% of government’s armed forces in Mindanao, the twin facet of this sham “development” is the militarization and displacement of our communities and the wholesale violation of our human rights.
We have voiced out these issues in our recent 14-day Manilakbayan ng Mindanao which culminated with the International Human Rights Day on December 10 in Metro Manila; we also made appeals to the Pope for him to help us reverse our plight.
We know that we Lumads differ in our religious belief from that of the Pope. But as our Uranda says, we hope that the Pope “may become the Channel of our prayer to MAGBABAYA, Supreme Deity of all deities…”
The Pope’s message of defense of God’s Creation resonates with the belief of our ancestors since time immemorial. We therefore welcome him into our hearts and in our collective embrace as Lumads.
We may not be able to see him personally but our Uranda is enough for us to connect to Pope Francis, indubitably known now as the People’s Pope.
Respectfully yours,
Dulphing Ogan
Secretary General
Kalumaran Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
Mobile 09128880131
*English translation by Agustin "Don" Pagusara (Palanca awardee)
---------------------------------
Mindanao Lumads to confer indigenous name “Apô Edsila” on Pope Francis
January 16, 2014
TACLOBAN CITY – Lumad leaders will confer on Pope Francis the title Apô (Elder) Edsila today (January 16) here in an event called “Gathering of the Poor” to be witnessed by Catholic sisters and Typhoon Yolanda survivors.
“We are bestowing on him the title Apô Edsila since he is worthy of high esteem with his love for us, indigenous peoples, and for his respect for the values and beliefs that we have held sacred since time immemorial,” says Dulphing Ogan, secretary general of the Mindanao-wide indigenous peoples' group Kalumaran.
“Edsila means ‘light’, ‘sunrise,’ or ‘dawn of a new day’---- all signifying hope, newness, and change,” Ogan said. It is a term used by Higaonon and Talaandig tribes inhabiting the mountains around the Pulangi River in central Mindanao.
The honor will be solemnized by Ogan, a Blaan, and five other Lumad leaders coming from the Bagobo, Manobo, and Higaonon tribes through a ritual, along with around 50 Catholic nuns belonging to the Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN) and a thousand Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors belonging to People Surge. The Panubadtubad will be performed just before the sun sets today, eve of the Pontiff’s visit to Tacloban on January 17.
Ogan said “the Pope’s anticipated encyclical on climate change is a breath of fresh air for indigenous peoples because it will bring the issue of ancestral domains and the violation of our human rights from the margins to the center.”
He added that “the Pope’s indictment of the pitfalls of capitalism is an affirmation of our indigenous values of collectivism and stewardship of Mother Earth.”
Finding relevance in the Pope’s visit to Tacloban with their own issues, Ogan said “The Pope is visiting Tacloban as Haiyan’s ‘ground zero’ because we have defiled many ‘ancestral grounds’ through imperialist plunder such as largescale mining, plantation economies, and other extractive industries.”
“We look up to the Pope to usher in ‘newness’ and transformation in this global system that perpetuates greed, exploitation, and oppression--- the very opposite of mercy and compassion,” Ogan said referring to the theme of the Papal Visit.
“Pope Francis, you are truly worthy to be called our Apô Edsila,” Ogan said.
Ogan says chicken blood will be offered to Magbabaya (the Supreme God of the Lumads) to signify the Mindanao indigenous peoples’ solidarity with the Pope.
He says that along with the offering is an incense “which seeks to drive all the bad spirits away that may bring harm to the people and the Pope and invite the good spirits to protect and guide him in all of his undertakings.”
Ogan says a betel nut, an “apog” (lime) and a seashell will also be offered “as symbols of the heart and compassion of the Lumads in defending and protecting their rights to self-determination and ancestral lands – the same compassion to the poor that the Pope has manifested.”
To go with these symbols is the partaking of a local wine “which stands for the courage and our shared determination as Lumads to carry on the struggle for a dignified and just life,” Ogan adds.
Bagobo chieftain Monico Cayog, 77, speaking in Visayan, added: “I see in Pope Francis the qualities of an elder who is down-to-earth and breaks barriers dividing his esteemed position and the realities of his people. These are characteristics of a true elder.”
Cayog added that “the Pope’s pro-poor and pro-environment principles are akin to an elder’s teachings and wisdom which is centered on people and the Earth.”###
For reference:
Dulphing Ogan
Secretary General
Kalumaran Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
Mobile +639128880131
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