An Appeal for Prayers of Solidarity and Support for the Philippines

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

We share with you the recent news of the gruesome massacre of unarmed civilians in the Philippine province of Maguindanao.  To date, close to 60 people were killed including 17 Filipino journalists and two lawyers known for their human rights advocacy.  A statement by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, “A Massacre Most Foul, Gross, and Utterly Repugnant” is posted below. 

This wanton taking of human life is a grim reminder of the pervading culture of impunity and the lack of respect for human rights that currently exists in the Philippines, which has been increasing since 2001 and is currently related to upcoming national elections.  In addition to affecting the lives of innocent Filipinos, it has also impacted the lives of our sisters and brothers in the United Church of the Philippines who maintain a heroic and faithful presence in the face of the ongoing violence, and whose members clergy and lay are among the arrested, murdered and disappeared.

In this season of Advent as we await the coming of the One we call “Prince of Peace,” we ask for your prayers of solidarity and support.  We ask you to lift up our Filipino sisters and brothers during public worship, to pray for their safety, for an end to the violence and for the reestablishment of justice so long denied.  We ask that you pray that the Obama Administration not shy away from exercising their influence with the Filipino government to end the violence and bring to justice those responsible.  In this season where hope reigns supreme, we ask your prayers that “justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

We send this request for your support with our heartfelt prayers that your congregation enjoy a most blessed and holy Advent/Christmas/Epiphany season.  May God continue to accompany all of us as we walk the pilgrim road together.   For more information and updates, contact the NCC Philippines website www.nccphilippines.org. 

Yours in Christ Jesus,

The Multi-racial/Multi-cultural Transformation Team                                                                                                   

Northern California Nevada Conference, United Church of Christ

A MASSACRE MOST FOUL, GROSS, AND UTTERLY REPUGNANT

National Council of Churches Philippines statement on the massacre in Maguindanao

It was a massacre most foul, gross, and utterly repugnant!

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines joins the people in mourning. We reach out in prayer and solidarity to the families of the victims of the massacre in Maguindanao Province. The death toll of 46 people as of this writing, includes members of the media and two lawyers known for their human rights advocacy. We also reach out to the relatives of those missing. May the Holy Comforter be with them.

Yet even as we grieve and mourn, we are outraged. We are outraged that government has not acted with dispatch. Two days after news of the carnage broke out, the suspected mastermind has not been taken into custody. From day one, the spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines already identified the suspected mastermind — a known staunch ally of the President and undeniably a political warlord in Maguindanao. We join the demand for the Government to take action but, we are appalled that a state of emergency has been declared in Maguindanao. For so long, Mindanao has been militarized and used to justify more military hardware and budget. What other more powers does the government need?

This massacre is a grim reminder of the pervading culture of impunity and the lack of respect for human rights that has been in our midst and that has turned for the worse since 2001. We are indignant of this continuing culture of impunity and the lack of political will of the government to stop these killings. What government has been doing is the swift perpetuation of injustice and the slow if not hollow dispensation of justice.

The gruesome massacre of unarmed civilians is also a painful reminder that government statements to the dismantling of political warlordism have been mere rhetoric. Government has either turned a blind eye or entered into alliances with these warlords for political expediency at the expense of creating democratic space. Political warlordism is a manifestation of a feudal social order and we join the call that it should now be a thing of the past.

To our partners around the world, our deep gratitude for upholding us in your supplication and affirming our calls. We pray that peace and justice be given a chance in Mindanao and elsewhere in this country. We pray that all the resources that have been poured in Mindanao bail out the people from the mire of poverty, neglect and human indignity. We pray that we all rise from this blasphemy for the sake of the God who loves us all and calls us to be one people and for the sake of our children and the children yet unborn.