FACE THE FACTS

A COLLECTION OF REFLECTION PAPERS

Council for World Mission

November 2014

About
The contents of this publication come from the personal reflection of the participants of
Face the Facts 2014 program, an action-reflection mission exposure program initiated by
CWM - Justice&Witness. The program was held in partnership with Peoples Forum on
Peace for Life in the Philippines. The 4-5 weeks program seeks to provide participants with
experiential learning and reflective understanding to the realities of poverty, inequalities
and injustices by giving them direct exposure to urban poor communities, issues of human
trafficking, mining, militarization and violations of human rights.

Copyright CWM Ltd, 2014.

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of CWM Ltd. Responsibility for the information and views expressed lie entirely with the
author(s). Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Photos depicted the program in 2013 and 2014.

Published by CWM Ltd

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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the local hosting partnerPeoples Forum on Peace for Life and their partnering organizations Gabriela Philippines,
Migrante International, (UCCP) Tondo Evangelical Church, Kadamay, InPeace Mindanao,
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Philipinas and PSET. Their commitment made the program
exceedingly inspiring and life-changing for the participants.
We would also like to express our thanks to the speakers, Mr Bobby M Tuazon,
Professor Lizette Galima Tapia-Raquel, Professor Revelation Velunta, Professor Sarah
Raymundo, Mr Nathaniel Santiago, Professor Julkipli Wadi and Professor Gerry M Lanuza,
for their compelling presentations and insightful lectures. Their contributions gave all
participants a critical understanding to the unjust socio-political and economic issues in the
Philippines.
Last but not least, we have profound appreciation to the communities of Smokey
Mountain, Plastikan, Payatas, SanRoque, Montalban Rizal and Mindanao. Despite their
hardships and difficulties in life, their generosity and hospitality warmed and touched
everyones hearts.

Justice&Witness
CWM Ltd

The Philippines
The Philippines is one of the worlds largest archipelago
nations. It is situated in Southeast Asia in the Western
Pacific Ocean. Its islands are classified into three main
geographical areas Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
There are wide disparities in income and quality of life
across regions and sectors in Philippines. The number of
poor people remained high (26.5 percent of the total
population lives below the poverty line, including 10
million women). While the country is abundant in
natural resources, environmental assets remain
unavailable to poor groups owing to exclusion, insecure
land tenure, lack of access to technologies; or the
resources are degraded. Social inequities are rife and
impact indigenous people, fisher folk, women and the
informal sector the most. Indigenous people make up
about 15 percent of the population and occupy an
estimated 17 percent of total land area. The struggle to
secure land or ancestral domains is a leading cause of
instability in areas of indigenous people. In the 2013
Human Development Report, the Philippines scored
0.418 in the Gender Inequality Index, reflecting
inequalities in labour market participation, political
representation, and access to health services.

[Extracted from UNDP in Philippines, 2014]

Capital
Manila
Population
92.34 million
Area (in sq. km)
298,171
Area (in sq. mi)
115,830
Language(s)
Filipino, English, and various
ethnic languages including
Cebuano, Ilocano,
Hiligaynon/Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray,
Pampango, and Pangasinense
Poverty rate
27.9%
Per capita income
US$3,752

CONTENTS

1. Would you like to stay in Plastikan?

By Elalaumate Tunupopo

Page 1

2. Migrant workers & human rights.

By Andrea Kim

Page 6

3. Mining, Militarization and Indigenous Peoples.

By Kap Sai Lo

Page 13

4. From Kiribati to Manila: a personal story of anger, helplessness and hope.

By Teanita Teangati
Page 19

5. Saying no to the monopolization of land.

By Rakotoarimanana Rado Danielala

Page 23

6. Wild Capitalism: The Hacienda Dolores experience.

By Lordwell Siame

Page 28

7. Embracing a theology of empire.

By Simon Wiesgickl

Page 34

Would you like to

stay in Plastikan?
Introduction

Elalaumate (Ela) Tunupopo

This sounds like a question asked for the purpose

From Samoa
of tourism advertisement but without the images to
make it appealing to an intended traveller. It is a
question that requires a direct answer yes or no. Your decision should be a process of
choosing but some are mindless about their choices while others will tend to choose
carefully. The question also requires a need for more information on the part of the
respondent as individuals tend to choose solely on the basis of individual interests.
As human beings, we are faced all the time with making decisions. We may choose
unconsciously or with careful thought, but there always has to be an answer. With the
answers come the consequences. The consequences of human choices not only affect an
individual but also impacts directly or indirectly with our environment as well as our
neighbours. The majority of humanity however cannot connect the consequences of their
actions to the global problems we face today. For me, participating in the Face the Facts
programme has not only broadened my horizons, it has also created an inner turmoil which
requires a soul-searching resolution.
I begin my reflection by seeking a soul-searching resolution on the situation of
Plastikan, an urban-poor community in Manila. I also seek for a better way to explain the
shift of perspectives I acquired through the encounter with the living conditions of the
community. I found that the concepts in The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills 1
provide an excellent explanation to the transformation of perspectives I experienced in the
Face the Facts programme. Mills talks about the ability for humans to acquire a quality of
mind to analyse the personal troubles in the social settings and the public issues of
social structure. 2 He further suggests three components that form the sociological
imagination namely the history, biography and social structure which are inter-related. I
found that the Plastikan community and all the urban poor settlements in the Philippines
have a history, biography and social structure that have helped to shape the way they are.
1
2

C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination (London: Oxford University Press, 1959; reprint, 2000).
Ibid, 8.

Plastikan an Urban Poor Settlement3

Plastikan represents one of the many communities among the approximate 30
million urban poor in the Philippines.4 It is an area of 900 sq miles near the Payatas
dumpsite. There are around 80 families forming the community with the average family
consisting of 6 members. The community survives solely on collecting different types of
plastics 5 that are obtained through scavenging in the Payatas dumpsite. The washed plastics
are then resold to the recycling companies, earning each person an average of 100 150
pesos per day.
It is considered work because the men have to wear a designated uniform with an
identification card that costs about 100 pesos per year for registration. Men wake up early
in the mornings, usually at 3am to get ready to go to work and to catch the first truckload of
trash collected from Metro Manilla.6 Some of the older children (mostly boys) have dropped
out of school to help their fathers scavenge for plastics to make ends meet. After collection,
they then bring these plastics to be segregated into different types depending on its
thickness.
Plastics are used as landfills in the area and most of the houses are made from
cardboards found in the Payatas dumpsite. Piles of plastics are everywhere, ready to be
sorted and rinsed in a nearby creek that runs through the settlement area. The typical
layout of their tiny houses has their kitchen situated with a simple bathroom without door.
The living room is also the dining room and for some houses, the living room is also used as
a bedroom. The stench is inescapable and flies are everywhere. The residents in Plastikan
have been living there for about twenty years. Recently, they were faced with the possibility
of demolition and the need for relocation. A rich person had claimed rights over the piece of
land where the community is situated. One can only imagine the fear they are going
through. Despite the inhumane living conditions, the settlement area is all they have. The
offer of relocation is not appealing as it means having to move from their only source of
livelihood, i.e. the dumpsite.
When we were there, the young children came and huddled around staring at the
foreign visitors. While watching the children staring at us, my mind started wondering about
my own children. I began to ponder on the what ifs.
What if the circumstances have changed and those were my children?
3

Most of these urban poor settlers are people who were forced to leave the rural areas due to the lack of land to
till for money and they travel with hope to find work in the urban areas.
4
This is an estimated urban poor population statistic according to Kadamay. http://kadamaynatl.blogspot.sg/2012/01/urban-poor-group-denies-existence-of.html
5
Hence the name given to the settlement Plastikan a transliteration of the word plastics, the source of their
livelihood.
6
The population of Metro Manilla is estimated to be 12 million.

What if somehow I am forced to be in a similar situation?

What if I had been the one born into this settlement?
What if for some reason the economic situation in Samoa in the near future permits
situations like this and I happen to be one of the unfortunate ones?
What if somehow you wake up one morning and find yourself living in one of these
settlements and face the struggle the people of Plastikan and similar settlement areas are
facing?
What if somehow, you wake up one day and find yourself jobless, four children to
feed with no other source of income?
What if your only source of income is scavenging and going through other peoples
garbage to find some means to feed your family?
Of course, in our current state of mind, we would not entertain the idea of being a
resident in one of these settlement areas. If, somehow one were to entertain the idea, one
would vow that one would change the situation. Sadly, for the residents of these urban poor
settlements, the elements of change are deeply imbedded in the hands of society as a
whole. But people living outside the arena of these unfortunate people will not see it as
their problem.
Using Mills sociological theories to
leave behind the
better understand the situation of the urban They
poor community in the Philippines, we begin problems
of
being
with their history. The citizens of the
Philippines are of different origins and have terrorised and exploited by
been plagued with colonisation for over 400 land owners to face new
years. The first colonisers were the Spaniards
who occupied the Philippines for about 300 struggles in a new place.
years, followed by the Americans, the
Japanese and again, the Americans. We gather that they must have been heavily exploited
for a long period of time. The rule of colonial powers had left the society so fragmented.
Post-colonial times saw the influx of foreign companies operating in the Philippines further
exploiting the people through cheap labour and poor working conditions. The foreign
companies and the minority rich continue to possess most of the land while the majority of
the people are left to fend for themselves.

A semi-feudal system and land-grabbing

The current trend in injustices have forced people to move from the
rural areas to find hope and livelihood in the
social structures all over
urban areas. Most of them end up in similar
the world is that the rich settlements like Plastikan. They leave behind
are getting richer and the the problems of being terrorised and exploited
by land owners to face new struggles in a new
poor are getting poorer.
place.
It is no wonder more Filipinos are
moving to other countries in search of
employment to raise their families. It is not that the migrant workers are better off than the
urban poor settlers, but decisions are made and consequences follow. But that is an issue
for discussion on another time.
Another component of sociological imagination is biography, the human nature of
people in the society as a whole. The study of human nature tends to highlight the human
responses to issues such as ethics, politics and theology and it is said that a quality of mind
should be able to connect the individual challenges to social institutions on the basis of
those issues. I perceive from such thoughts that we can formulate an opinion of the
habitants of a place in terms of their views on ethics, politics and theology.
The Philippines have experienced fifteen Presidents since gaining independence.
Time and time again, the Presidential elections have always been tainted with corruption
through the use of goons, guns and gold. If these measures are used, then it is always
unethical. There is no freedom in the individual decision making. Oppression starts right
there in what should be your freedom to choose who should lead. The focus of the
politicians seems to be directed to foreign investors, hence the cry from the Union Workers
who are also being exploited and ill-treated by foreign as well as local companies.7
Since true choice is deprived in elections and governments fail to do their job, the
situation seems almost hopeless for people living below the poverty line and under cruel
working conditions. The question that arises now is the theological participation in the
formation of human nature. When all else fails, people tend to seek comfort in searching for
divine intervention to provide solutions. But even the search for divine intervention is
denied as churches like the Iglesia ni Cristo coerces their members into block vote. 8 The
system of block votes is denying the individual the freedom of choice. It is a system that is
similar to saying the Holy Spirit spoke to me only and not you. It seems that the definition
of human nature and the underlying principles of what makes us human are beyond the
control of the unfortunates.
7

C.f. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/03/07/13/10-things-we-should-know-about-philippine-elections;
http://csis.org/publication/2013-philippine-midterm-elections-turning-democratic-corner (accessed Oct 2014).
8
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/07/filipino-church-flexes-political-muscle20147227452737931.html (accessed Oct 2014).

The current trend in social structures all over the world is that the rich are getting
richer and the poor are getting poorer. The same families run for politics and the same
ideologies are intensified to a higher level of corruption. It is a structure of you scratch my
back and Ill scratch yours. Therefore under the current trend, it seems that it is impossible
for the poor people to grow nails under the circumstances that they are in to scratch
anyones back. The rich will continue to affiliate with each other at the expense of the less
fortunate. Politicians will continue to associate with the rich for personal gains. The cycle of
injustice continues. The stratification of society is also reflected in the housing situation
where the rich are grouped together in their rich area and the poor are grouped together in
their slumps. Almost all areas of life are stratified, even in education. Education is a basic
human right, yet the creation of private schools and the vast difference in quality offered is
another kind of stratification.
The numbers of people falling below the poverty line continues to increase. The
problem is, most of us fail to connect the dots, maybe because we do not fall under that
number. Yet, the number of people below poverty line is not just a number of individuals
that have personal issues that need to be relooked at. It is an indication that history, social
structure and human nature needs to be relooked at. That is to say, we as citizens of the
world need to re-evaluate our choices that formulate the consequences which in effect
creates those numbers.

Conclusion
All in all, to re-visit the question Would you like to stay in Plastikan? what
would be your response? The choice is yours. It is within our choices that define the world
we live in. We tend to forget that we cannot escape the consequences of our choices. Each
choice we make helps to make the larger picture more vivid. It is these choices that have
helped to create the rich and the poor. It is also within our choices that we are shaping the
global problems we are facing today. And yet, we fail to see the bigger picture that is being
painted with our choices. We also fail to identify our contribution in intensifying the
situation.
The challenge remains with each and every one of us. We need to be more conscious
of the decisions we make and realise its effects on the global problems faced today. The
decision we make today makes a difference for our tomorrow. Numerous global talks and
seminars are being held, yet the problem remains. People are still unaware that each and
every one of us holds the answer to these problems. The answer lies within our choices.

Ela is a mother of 4 children in Samoa and teaches at the Papauta Girls College in Samoa.

Visiting a childcare centre in the community, an outreach of UCCP Tondo Evangelical church.

Migrant Workers
& Human Rights
Introduction

Kim Jihyeon (Andrea)

Slaves at sea: Report into Thai fishing industry finds abuse

of migrant workers; 1

Korea

92 bodies found in the Sahara desert; 2

28 migrant workers wounded in shooting over wages in Greece; 3
600,000 forced labour victims in Middle East. 4
These headlines show the horrendous situation migrant workers are faced with all
around world every day. While on an exposure program in the Philippines, I heard for myself
the experiences of migrant workers. Their stories are not different from the experiences of
migrant workers in my own country- South Korea. Because of this experience, I began to
question myself on why people would go and work abroad; why are migrant workers denied
their basic human rights; and how could we response to, and prevent the abuses of migrant
workers? Through reflecting on these questions, I hope to find ways and actions to assist
with the human rights of migrant workers.

Why do people go and work abroad?

The high level of economic growth and development achieved by the industrialized
and newly industrializing economies such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong
Kong and Malaysia have resulted in the tremendous growth of labour deployment in East
and Southeast Asia regions in the 1980s and l990s. Migrant workers from other countries
were recruited to perform jobs that were considered by locals as dirty, dangerous and

Dean Irvine, Slaves at sea: Report into Thai fishing industry finds abuse of migrant workers, CNN, Mar.6,
2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/06/world/asia/thailand-fishing-modern-slavery-report/ (accessed Oct
2014).
2
Suthentira Govender, 92 bodies found in the Sahara desert, Mirror, Oct.31,2013,
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/bodies-92-migrants-found-sahara-2659025 (accessed Oct 2014).
3
Elinda Labropoulou, 28 migrant workers wounded in shooting over wages in Greece, CNN, Apr.14, 2013.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/18/world/europe/greece-migrant-workers-shot/ (accessed Oct 2014.
4
http://www.ilo.org/beirut/media-centre/news/WCMS_211162/lang--en/index.htm (accessed Oct 2014).

difficult work. 5 At this point in time, migrant workers are still being recruited and the
evidence shows that migrant workers are often working in unsafe and unstable
environments. For example, according to a report from the International Trade Union
Confederation, 1200 migrant workers from India and Nepal have died in Qatar since the
country was awarded the 2022 World Cup.6
While in the Philippines for the Face the Facts program, we came to hear from the
victims of such abuses when we visited a migrant workers community. We heard about
Antonios story from his wife, Maribel. He went to Libya to earn a living for the 9 members
of his family. He was a construction worker in Libya. She had a bad dream about her
husband and so she called the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs and asked about
her husband. They told her that he was doing
People migrate from fine. But a few days after the call, she heard a
report about a certain militia in Benghazi (Libya)
rural areas to urban areas beheaded a Filipino construction worker,
with the hope of finding allegedly for being a non-Muslim. According to
the Philippines Government Department of
work but find none.
Foreign Affairs, the report revealed that an OFW
(Oversea Filipino Worker), Antonio Espares was
kidnapped on July 15 at a checkpoint in the Gwarsha district of Benghazi.
OFW Espares remains were found at a hospital on July 19, 2014.7 She received his picture
and was shocked. Maribel could not hold back her tears. She cried and told us that her
husbands mouth was ripped and both his legs were terribly injured. The Filipino
government had no answer to the issue nor offered any form of compensation or showed
any responsibility.
It is estimated that there are about 10 million Filipinos working or residing abroad.8
The data from an NGO Migrante International Organization suggests that the figure is closer
to 15 million.9 Many Filipinos went abroad to work, hoping to make a better living. In the
Philippines, farmers are victims of land grabbing from private corporations with the support
of the Filipino Government.10 Labourers work at multinational companies with low wages
5

Rene E. Ofreneo and Isabelo A. Samonte, Empowering Filipino Migrant workers: Policy Issues and
challenges. International Labour Office, GENEVA, 2005:8. http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labourmigration/publications/WCMS_201588/lang--en/index.htm (accessed Oct 2014).
6
The Qatar World Cup Is A Disaster:1,200 Workers Dead, New Bribery Investigation, Business Insider, Mar.
18,2014
7
http://migranteinternational.org/2014/08/06/factsheet-on-antonio-espares-ofw-beheaded-in-libya; C.f.
https://anc.yahoo.com/news/beheaded-ofw-s-remains-stuck-in-libya-002809200.html (accessed Oct 2014).
8
http://www.pbs.org/pov/learning/photo_gallery_background.php#.VH0qTDGUcrU (accessed Oct 2014).
9
http://migranteinternational.org/ [accessed Oct 2014].
10
http://www.oxfam.org/en/grow/philippines-land-grabs-its-they-have-killed-us-already ;
http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/agrarian-reform-mainmenu-36/1568-landgrabbing-in-philippine (accessed Oct 2014).

and they can be easily dismissed without compensation. They are no form of workers
protection. People migrate from rural areas to urban areas with the hope of finding work
but find none. They scavenge at the citys dumpsites to earn USD2-3 per day. These are
some of the reasons Filippinos like Antonio, have to go abroad to work and even though the
countries where they work in are at times harsh and dangerous.

Why are migrant workers denied their basic human rights?

I believe most of us have grown up learning about our own basic human rights
through the family community. The International Labour Organization (ILO) sets an agenda
for fair migration to the International Labour Conference by ILO Director General; it has 10
ongoing projects on migrant labour to protect and promote the rights of the migrant
workers; it has a Global Action Programme on Migrant domestic workers and their families;
ILO and Global Migration Group (GMS) to improve global migration governance; The GMS
consist of 16 international organization that work in cooperation to address migration issues,
worldwide; it held a general discussion on migrant workers, which resulted in a resolution
and conclusion on a fair deal for migrant workers in a global economy. The conclusions
contained an ILO plan of action for migrant workers that advocated a rights-based approach
to labour migration, which takes account of labour market needs; 11 the UN convened the
high-level dialogue on International Migration and Development from 3-4 October 2013
with an eight-point agenda for action on making migration work. 12 These conferences,
projects, programmes, resolutions, and declarations show how international organizations
are trying to put efforts into ensuring human rights protection for migrant workers. Why
then are so many migrant workers still suffering as victims of racism, discrimination,
inequality, instability, and underemployment and their basic rights being denied?
When I visited the migrant workers community in the Philippines, I met a lady who
had worked as a domestic helper for 26 years in Hong Kong. She slept on a hard wooden
board placed on top of the toilet. It had been her bedroom and her home for 26 years. She
had to wake up early so her employer could use the toilet at dawn, she had to wake up.
According to a recent article, it is reported from a survey of more than 3000 live-in maids in
Hong Kong, done by Mission for Migrant Workers, that
58% said they had experienced verbal abuse; 37% said they worked 16-hour days;
18% said they experienced physical abuse such as slapping and kicking; and 6% said
they had been subjected to rape, touching or sexual comments in the homes of
their employers. Some reported having to sleep in the bathroom or in the kitchen.13
11

C.f. http://www.ilo.org/migrant/global-policy-debates/lang--en/index.htm
C.f. http://www.un.org/en/ga/68/meetings/migration/
13
http://online.wsj.com/articles/maid-in-hong-kong-fights-for-justice-against-abuser-1412231262?mod=e2fb
(accessed Oct 2014).
12

These circumstances remind me of the idea of The Other.14 The Other is the idea
that in every society, a person or a group of people are designated as outsiders, as not
belonging. During World War 2, people of Jewish descent were considered the Other. The
Nazis saw them as different. They were also seen as different by people trying to protect
and save them, and even by themselves. Those who supported the idea of fascism could
either participate in such activities or just let them happen. This is a difficult idea. What I am
saying is that we must not say the Germans did it. We must never look at this as something
that "they" did. This is something that "we" did;
something that we allowed to happen. The point I
we are all somewhat
want to make is we are all somewhat responsible
for what
for what happened in our society. The Germans responsible
were not the only monsters although some acted
happened in our society.
like monsters. They were just regular people like
each of us and they did the horrible thing towards
the Jewish people. We should be aware that we are all capable of such terrible acts. We say
we are different; we say that we would never do such a horrible thing but somehow and in
some way we do. It is important to think of these things with the pronoun "we". We are all
capable of these terrible things. Therefore we should not blindly follow anyone or anything.
I realized this is something that persists in our world today as seen in the situation of the
migrant workers. They are being treated as The Other in the foreign lands they work in.
Government officials, employers and other people see migrant workers from this
perspective. They are seen as not belonging to the country they are working in. They are
seen as The Other. Such a perspective allows abuses to persist; the denial of basic human
rights. Whatever happened in our society is our responsibility and we must do something
about it.
Prior to the Face the Facts experiences in the Philippines, I was not too concerned
about migrant workers very much in South Korea. They were put in The Other category
unconsciously in my life. However, after I visited and listened to the migrant workers
struggles in the Philippines, I began to ponder about the migrant workers in my own
country- South Korea. In 2010, I participated in the YMCA World Council and lived with an
American friend for two years. Then I went on to do volunteer work in 9 countries for a year.
I became unconsciously accustomed to being in a multicultural environment and began to
14

The idea of The Other; in the American literature class with Prof. Daniel Peters, I read the story of The
Shawl by Cynthia Ozick. The story is about the horrors of the Holocaust. We talked about how the Jews were
being described in the story where it was written that the face, very round, a pocket mirror of a face: but it was
no Rosas bleak complexion, dark like cholera, it was another kind of face altogether, eyes blue as air, smooth
feathers of hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosas coat. (The Shawl, p246). While we talked about
how the Jews were made to sew big yellow stars onto their clothes to easily identify them as Jews on the streets,
so people could deny them services, the guards could easily pick them up and throw them in to a concentration
camp, and etc., the idea of The Other came to my mind and we talked about how they were designed as The
Other in society. C.f. Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl (Knopf, New York, 1989).

be interested in multicultural families in Korea. I took a social issues class and was assigned
to do an interview on a social issue of interest. I chose a multicultural family and
interviewed Ireasha who emigrated from Sri Lanka to South Korea. She is the General
Secretary of a womens migrant organization in South Korea. She is also an activist who
stands for migrant womens rights. She related to me about the situation of migrant
workers in South Korea. The employers in South Korea treated migrant workers unequally.
They were required to work long hours and night shifts. Many worked without overtime
pay and often had their wages withheld. On the average, in South Korea, they are paid less
than South Korean workers in similar jobs and were often at greater risk of industrial
accidents with inadequate medical treatment or compensation. Women migrant workers
were more at risk of exploitation. Many were sexually assaulted or harassed by the
management or their co-workers. Some female workers were brought in illegally by their
employers. If their work was not completed, they were not given food and were sometimes
not allowed to use the restrooms.15
Undeniably, their basic human rights have been denied because they are in a
foreign country. The migrant workers are not fully aware of their rights in the foreign
country and with limited knowledge of the local language and laws it makes them more
vulnerable to abuses. Desperate to make money to send back to their poor families back
home, they have no choice but to stay on despite the abuses. They have become The Other
and therefore have become invisible with no one to care or speak up for them.

How can we respond to and prevent human rights abuses?

The emphasis on a human rights framework in the context of migration becomes
ever more crucial in the context of ongoing discussions on the post-2015 development
framework and the inclusion of migration into this agenda. As stressed by the UN Systemwide Task Team, any future framework should rest on the core values of human rights,
equality and sustainability. 16 As stated in the Global Migration Group (GMG)s terms of
reference, these objectives will be pursued through activities that will be integrated in the
Multi-Annual Work Plan of the GMG.17
The specific objectives of the working group are:
1. Integrate human rights standards and principles into global policy dialogues on
15

C.f. http://time.com/3523231/south-korea-amnesty-international-bitter-harvest-eps/;
http://isckoreamedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/rights-for-migrant-workers-in-korea-now/ (accessed Oct 2014).
16
C.f. UN System Task Team, Report to the SG, Realizing the Future We Want for All (New York, June 2012)
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Post_2015_UNTTreport.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).
17
C.f. http://www.globalmigrationgroup.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Working-Groups-and-TaskForces/Working-Group-on-Human-Rights-Gender-and-Migration-July2013.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).

10

migration including from a gender perspective, through technical assistance and

support to intergovernmental processes, strategic partnership building, capacity
building and communication and advocacy.
2. Support the promotion, protection, respect and fulfilment of the human rights of all
migrants and their families at the national level by Member States and other
relevant stakeholders, with a focus on the most vulnerable, through joint guidance,
awareness raising and partnership building.
I began to ask myself on how one could protect human rights. As an international
body, how could we respond to this issue? How about the churchs response?
For the first question, according to the book of Exodus 21:1-9(NLT), God gave the
people of Israel the laws through Moses that were intended to protect the right of the
slave/servant. The laws were intended to ensure protection and respect. I believe
respecting a fellow human being is a way through which we can protect human rights. We
must first begin to see migrant workers not as The Other but as fellow human beings.
Second, how can I respond on this issue as part of an international group? Since I
participated in the Face the Facts program, I have convinced myself that international
solidarity has more invincible power than any other form of solidarity. I kept thinking how
can I keep and extend this international solidarity. Through the conversation with one of the
participants and the co-moderator of Peace for Life, the local hosting organization, we came
up with several ideas. One of them was reporting about an interested social issue in a
respective country by posting a picture with a description online once a month. It is not only
a way to keep our international solidarity but also a way to share and spread a respective
countrys social issue. It could be the way I can respond on human rights abuses against
migrant workers. I can visit and meet the migrant workers group in South Korea, listen to
their struggles and share their stories with the international solidarity group.
Correspondingly, I can interact with a migrant workers organization in the Philippines and
share about the Filippino migrant workers situations and struggles in South Korea, and seek
ways in which we can support their human rights.
Lastly, what should be a churchs responsibility on this issue? On this question, it
reminds me of the article entitled Dignity at work: the plight of domestic workers by Rev
Randolph Turner of Council for World Mission. He wrote that there
exists the concern of the church to attend to the risk and vulnerabilities that
domestic workers are exposed to as outlined in the ILO report. To care for the
person, which the church contends it holds as important is caring for the whole
person. Globalization and the modern economy has brought to the doorstep of
many homes the need for support in family stability as parents work, children go to

11

school, and the elderly require care. It is in part this unwritten exchange of human
engagement that is facilitated between the domestic worker and their employer.
When this exchange is violated because rights do not exist and human value is
distorted the church must become concerned. 18
The article shows why the church has to be concerned on this issue especially when human
value is being distorted.
I wrote this paper based on these three questions; why do people go and work
abroad; why are migrant workers denied their basic human rights; how can we respond to
and prevent human rights abuses? I have looked
nobody should be back over the past 4 weeks in the Philippines and
tried to look at the issues about the rights of
put in "The Other" migrant workers. I have heard stories and met
people; I went beyond the facts, the statistics and I
category in our society.
have tried to learn what was wrong and considered
what one can do.
While writing this paper I heard news of the award of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize to
a 17-year-old girl from Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai and to the Indian child rights activist
Kailash Satyarthi. Malala is an inspiration. In her speech, she said of her Indian co-recipient
of the award,
He is from India following Hinduism and I am a Pakistani who is a staunch follower of
Islam. Here is a message to the people. A message of love between Pakistan and
India it doesn't matter what the colour of your skin is, what language you
speak, what religion you believe in. It is that we should all consider each other as
human beings and respect one another.19
I understand her to say that nobody should be put in "The Other" category in our society.
This must be true for migrant workers as it should be for children, women and all
people. We should all treat and respect each other regardless of our nation, language,
religion, colour and status. I would like to see this happened in me and my society.

Jihyeon (Andrea) - is from Korea and is a student at Luther University majoring in English language
and social studies. She has previously worked with the Korean committee on the UN international
day of peace.

18

Rev Randolph Turner, Dignity At Work: The Plight of the Domestic Workers,
http://www.cwmission.org/dignity-at-work-the-plight-of-domestic-workers/ (accessed Oct 2014).
19
http://www.india.com/stream/malala-yousafzais-inspirational-nobel-peace-prize-acceptance-speech-video169870/ (accessed Oct 2014).

12

Mining, Militarization
and Indigenous Peoples
Introduction
Kap Sai Lo

The struggles are the same everywhere; from

Myanmar to the Philippines, indigenous communities facing
Myanmar
the challenges of multinational mining and militarization. This
was my discovery during four weeks of intense exposure in the Philippines. This paper
reflects on what I have seen among the Moro and Lumad community in Mindanao,
Philippines.
The Moro people, or Bangsamoro, are a population of ethnically indigenous Muslims
in the Philippines. They are the largest non-Catholic group in the country, comprising about
9% of the total Philippine population. The Moro people live mostly in Mindanao, Sulu and
Palawan. They have always been a migrating population with communities in the main cities
such as Manila, Cebu and Davao. In the last half of the 20th century, some Moros have
emigrated to Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
The Lumad people are found in the Mindanao region of the southern part of the
Philippines. Lumadis is a Cebuano term which means "native" or "indigenous". It is the selfdescription and collective identity of the indigenous people of Mindanao. There are 17
Lumad ethno linguistic groups in Mindanao and their population is approximately 2.1 million
(1993). They are found mainly in the Compostela Valley region of Mindanao.

The challenges we saw and heard

In Mindanao we heard about the struggles of the indigenous peoples for autonomy
and land rights amidst forced relocation. We heard about the impact of multinational
mining, the military protection offered to mining companies and the impact on the local
communities. There were similarities and differences with the Moro and Lumads land,
military issues and conflicts, including disenfranchisement and religious issues.
The Moro people are involved in a power struggle for autonomy. This struggle has
affected development of the area and led to the marginalization of the Moro people. Jobs

13

are hard to come by; their religious identity as Muslims resulted in them being marginalized
and even being regarded as terrorists. Their struggle for recognition and their basic right of
access to jobs and land has led to the formation of two liberation movements; the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Recently
the MNLF has entered into talks with the Philippines government regarding the issue of
autonomy.
Similarly the Lumad people are faced with their own disenfranchisement from the
government in the name of development. Their lands have been turned over by the
government to multinational mining companies; forcing the Lumad people to leave their
ancestral lands. Defying the government to give up their lands, they have started their own
small-scale mining. Their lands are also devastated by natural catastrophes such as
typhoons. Land, development, indigenous rights, and mining create a complex picture that
is not easily understood. However some things were clear; the people were mobilized to
resist the presence of foreign owned large-scale mining. Resistance however, comes with a
price. It has been reported that anti-mining activists and environmental advocates have
been killed by the state security forces. 20
It is unclear regarding the impact of the government intervention in the struggle for
autonomy and the loss of land to multinational mining. The Investment Defense Force was
created to protect investments in rural areas, particularly mining. The AFP (Arms Force of
Philippine) has been deploying more troops to the Compostela Valley Province where gold
reserves are estimates at 3.77 million ounces. 21 The militarization campaign 22 does not only
end at safeguarding land interests for the multinational companies and government
however, as reports of abusive actions such as rapes, beatings, harassments have been
reported by the local community. 23
Many of the mineral-rich areas in For the indigenous peoples,
the Philippines are located within the
ancestral lands of the indigenous the land represents life.
peoples. For the indigenous peoples, the
land represents life. It is inextricably linked to their cultural and social identity. It is the basis
of their indigenous social organization, belief system and economic survival. Therefore to
destroy the land is to eradicate their very existence as one distinctive people group.
Multinational Mining Companies (MMCs) through their engagement in the mining industry,
20

For example, see http://afrim.org.ph/newafrim/tag/extrajudicial-killings;

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/542635/25-activists-so-far-killed-in-southern-mindanao-under-aquino-karapatan
(accessed Oct 2014).
21
http://goldinvestingnews.com/40712/gold-in-the-philippines.html (accessed Oct 2014).
22
http://www.ndfp.net/web2014/index.php/news/statements/2126-condemn-afp-s-war-of-suppression-andwidespread-abuses-in-mindanao (accessed Nov 2014).
23
Ibid.

14

pose a threat to the life and welfare of the indigenous peoples. The Lumad people reported
that the MMCs often acquire ancestral lands by means of duplicity or using deceptive
tactics. They are never fully informed about the overall mining process and its implications
on their lands. Indigenous peoples are easy targets because they are usually not aware of
their rights. Promises are made but are not met. 24

My Myanmar experience
As I saw and heard of the experiences of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, I was
reminded of the situation back in Myanmar, which at this point of writing is under a military
regime. In my opinion, the tenets of democracy were eroded even as people made demands
for democracy. People in authority resorted to violence in order to silence those who
struggled for democracy. Among the brutalities or abuses faced by the people in my
country were: extra judicial killings, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, forced labor,
torture, arbitrary arrests, unlawful and prolonged detention, and attacks on religious
freedom. All these were inflicted by the Burmese Army in Myanmar on the ethnic groups of
Myanmar including my own people group the Chin people. Accounts of these brutalities
and abuses were well documented.
The Burmese Army controlled many aspects of the lives of the Chin people, curtailing
their freedom of movement, restricting their ability to grow food and cultivate their land,
coercing the planting of crops as determined by the military and inflicted forced labor. A
Chin pastor who became a refugee by leaving Burma in 2005 and now lives in New Delhi
when interviewed by Human Rights Watch said, "When we meet the army we are shaking.
There's no law for them. Whatever they want is law." 25
The Chin and other ethnic groups have formed their own organizations to fight for a
federal system of government. Three such groups in the Chin state are the Chin National
Force (CNF), the Chin National Army (CNA) and a women organization called Women's
League of Chin land. 26 The issues regarding the lack of autonomy and control over their
own lives for the Chin people are similar to that of the Moro people in Mindanao.
Similarly on the issue of mining, in the Dawei village, Tenasserim Hills, because of the
operations of Thailands Myanmar Pongpipat Company and a state-owned Mining

24

C.f. http://www.rmp-nmr.org/articles/2014/09/06/napsa-declaration-solidairty (accessed Oct 2014).

http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/02/05/burmas-forgotten-victims (accessed Oct 2014).
26
We are the Forgotten People,http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/01/27/we-are-forgotten-people0;www.irinnews.org/.../myanmar-chin-state-abuses-crime-against-humanity-ngo,
www.uprinfo.org/followup/.../myanmar/Myanmar-CHRO.xls (accessed Oct 2014).
25

15

Enterprise the inhabitants of the ethnic Dawei village have been affected by increasing
amounts of wastewater and environmental risks since a takeover of the Heinda mine. 27
As I considered these similarities, I was asked myself why the indigenous people like
the Moro and Lumad suffer such injustices. Is it because they are a minority? I ask this
question because in so many countries, in advancing globalization and development,
governments and foreign investors are monopolizing the land of indigenous people and its
resources. The impact on the environment and the people themselves is great. In the case
of Compostela Valley, Mindanao and elsewhere, the mining multinational companies have
little or no respect for the land unlike the indigenous people. In their economic perspective,
the land is just a source of minerals to be
Indigenous people have a extracted. But for the indigenous people, it is
deep sense of understanding their life. Indigenous people have a deep sense
of understanding and affinity to their land. To
and affinity to their land.
view the land as merely natural resources goes
against their very concept of land. Their life
stories and ancestry are tied closely to the lands. Large scale mining not only destroys their
ancestral lands and their rich biodiversity, but displaced indigenous people and continues to
do so today. This is one of the negative impacts of globalization and development.

Learning to resist
As I thought about what I saw in Mindanao, I recognized that there was a
determination among indigenous groups through people power to resist the injustices
inflicted by the government and foreign investors. Organizations were established such as
MNLF, MILF, Khadija and farmers associations. 28 I became aware of a commitment to fight
injustices and began to consider what might be needed in a fight against injustices in
indigenous communities in Mindanao and Myanmar.
Every organization needs good leadership. The success and failure of a peoples party
or organization depends on its leaders. One word of a leader can change the world. I believe
that in Myanmar the opposite party NLD (National League for Democracy), the CNF (Chin
National Front) and the CNA (Chin National Army) have good leaders. However leaders are
always at risk. Their arrest or the fact that they may have to go underground can have an
impact on unity and zeal. NLD leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was very influential and could sway
the opinion of people. On May 6, 2002, she was released from house arrest and was allowed
to travel. Crowds responded to her presence at gatherings. The Myanmar junta felt
27

http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/dawei-village-sue-thai-mining-firm-environmental-impacts.html (accessed
Oct 2014).
28
C.f. Compostela Farmer Association (CFA), Monkaya Farmer Association (MOFA) and Barug Katawhan.

16

threatened and organized anti-NLD demonstrations inciting violent clashes. On May 30,
2003, following the Depayin Massacre, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested.29 The juntas arrest
of NLD leaders was intended to lead to the failure of the movement. 30 Leaders are
important in every movement or organization but equally important are the people of the
movement who are involved in the struggle. I saw strong leadership among the Moro and
Lumad people and I also recognized the collective will of people in the fight against injustice.
The success and failure of the movement depends on the strength, willingness and
participation of the people.

Unity and Participation

Secondly, unity and the participation of the full community give strength to the
struggle. I recognized that there were some differences of opinion about how to resist.
Unity requires the need to look at the big picture. Any benefit to tribe, state, religion or
culture that is achieved by united commitment is a benefit to all. It was my sense that the
unity of the groups needed to be strengthened.

Confidence in struggle
In my view, the people of Myanmar often did not have confidence in their ability to
oppose the regime and the brutal dictatorship even though there was always the claim of
oppression. During protest marches many would not join because of the fear of being seen
and the possibility of being arrested or killed. Many years under a brutal military junta
resulted in fear being embedded in the hearts of people. There was a lot of dependence on
external forces. But in the Philippines, I was very happy to see the power, strength, zeal of
the people to resist the injustices in the community in spite of some differences. There is
the need to fight with confidence which will bring victory at the end. For as long as the
people tell themselves that they have no strength to resist, they will remain oppressed.
The people of Mindanao need to have confidence that they have the ability to
oppose injustice. There are many who are skillful and educated among them but as long as
they think they will not succeed- they will not. People become as they think.

Way forward
As a pastor, the challenge is to unite our faith community for a common cause. It is
said that the Church is to be a voice for the voiceless. Often the poor do not have a voice in
29

C.f. http://www.burma-center.org/en/burma/famous-burmese-persons/aung-san-suu-kyi/[accessed Oct 2014].

Sui Lian Thang, Exodus Paradigm: Its ImplicationsforThe Liberation Of The People Of Myanmar
(Unpublished B.D Thesis submitted to Senate of Serampore College: 2008).

30

17

the society rather they are oppressed and marginalized by the greedy rich. The rich exploit
them. In the parable of the great Banquet (c.f. Luke 14: 16-24), we see that those who were
excluded were the ones invited. Jesus was on the side of the poor and the oppressed of the
society and he became a voice for them.
In the same way, the churches in the Philippines ought to be the spokesman or a
voice to the voiceless; speaking out for the poor and needy in the society. When the church
speaks out and mobilizes people for the concerns of people, it gives visibility and credibility
to the church in the community. The church is to be a voice not only for itself but for the
problems of others in society through various media of communication, irrespective of
religions.
Leadership that is strong and that understands the collective will of people,
combined with unity of participation and confidence in struggle are keys to the way
forward.

Rev Kap Sai Lo (Kapte) is a minister with the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar and is married with
two children.

18

Face the Facts Program, 2013.

From Kiribati to Manila:

A personal story of anger,

helplessness and hope.

Introduction
As I was preparing for my trip to the
Philippines, I had the following conversation:

Teanita Teangati
Kiribati

Pastor, I heard that you will be going to the Philippines. What is the main purpose
of your program?
Oh, we are going to see and witness how the people are treated unjustly by the
government and wealthy people in the Philippines.
The government and wealthy people didnt do that. It is the people, because most
of them are Roman Catholics.
I could not respond but began to wonder about it. However, this was not the kind of
conversation I wanted to have as I was anxious about the travel. It was my first time
travelling on such a long journey. I was afraid about getting lost and missing my flights.
I arrived safely in Manila and began the
journey of an unbelievable three weeks close I was shocked and angry
encounters with poverty, dire living conditions and
and felt totally helpless
people that gave me many emotions. I used the
word disappointed a lot to describe my own with what I saw.
emotion reactions to what I have encountered. But
towards the end of the program, I questioned myself about the meaning of disappointed
in my expression. I explained to myself that I was disappointed when I saw the situations
where the people are being treated in a bad way. I felt disappointed because I knew that it
was wrong but I could not help them. I wanted to help but I could not. I was then told that
it is therefore not being disappointed that I felt but rather the feeling of helplessness and
anger over the situation I witnessed.

19

During our first exposure to the Plastikan community, I was shocked, angry and
helpless with what I saw. The day we went, it was raining and the place they had prepared
for us to have our short orientation was all wet. Therefore, they sent us to another home
which is not big enough to fit all of us. All the houses in the community were very small.
Plastics were everywhere. They lived with plastics. Their livelihood depended on plastics
which was the reason the community was known as the Plastikans. We spent the night
with them but it was so hard to communicate because I only knew English besides my own
language. But listening to their stories made me very frustrated. I was emotionally touched.
I felt heartbroken, shocked and angry. I was weak and scared but I wanted to fight. Here
were people living among plastic garbage piled up beside waterways that were polluted. At
the same time, their humble abode was always facing threats of demolition. These issues
touched me deeply and I was pondering about the cause of the issues and problems. I asked
myself what was the root of all these issues.
In my own words, I would say it was all a matter of ill-mannered actions by
capitalism together with the government that resulted in homes being destroyed and the
fields of the poor being taken away. These actions removed the poor of their livelihood and
forced them into inhumane living and poverty. I continue to ask myself the reason to them
becoming poor. I mean, the country has lots of lands and rich in natural resources. Even if
the population is very high, the people could have their own place but not needing to live in
garbage dumpsites or besides polluted rivers. It was very upsetting to see how the
government and those who have wealth would allow this to happen to fellow human beings
and to treat them like they are animals. What is the role of the government? Is it not to
govern well and protect the poor? Instead of governing well and protecting the people, the
government is insisting on gaining more profit rather than looking after the peoples
welfares. So many questions and so many thoughts I had. The situation in Plastikan was new
and challenging to me.

Kiribati and Manila - A Comparison of Demolitions

I tried to think of my own country - Kiribati where there were instances when the
government acted against the people by evicting them from their homes. I was told of one
instance in 2005, where the ownership of land was disputed. The family today lives in an
unsuitable place for habitation. Even though they are faced with a difficult situation in the
example in Kiribati, it was nothing in comparison to what I saw in Plastikan in the
Philippines. In Kiribati, the eviction caused a threat to the living condition of the people but
nobody was hurt in the whole process. However, it was different in the Philippines. The

20

documentary Evict them in 5 easy ways 1showed the methodology of eviction used in the
Philippines.
Step1. A company finds an appropriate site to build their new development. If they find
people already living in that place, they are then told that they need to leave without
any consideration of what they will think.
Step2. The company then pretends to care but offering money compensation as a way
of negotiation. Refusal will lead to the next step.
Step3. The community is threatened, usually by groups of armed police officers, and
electricity and water supply are cut so that they become helpless.
Step4. Then the community is attacked and people are beaten, homes demolished
and/or burned down.
Step5. Finally they are evicted, loaded into trucks and sent to a faraway settlement.
This video was not made in the Philippines but what we heard from the residents of
Plastikan and other urban-poor communities showed that demolitions in the Philippines are
done in exactly the same way as described in the video. The government seemed
generous and kind to prepare a
resettlement place for these people but Despite my own helplessness,
the venue is usually located in areas of
these people give a strong hope
poor conditions susceptible to floods
and also away from the cities where by their courage.
they can find jobs.
According to the documentary entitled Demolition Reel 2, produced by the urban
poor organization Kadamay, there were more than 72,000 families in Metro Manila who
were victims of demolitions. This fact came into being only after three years of the current
president, Benigno Aquino III, who is ironically committed to implement 14 projects of his
Public-Private Partnership infrastructure program. According to Kadamay, these projects will
further displace almost 1.4 million people, causing about 20,000 families along the Metro
Manila waterways to become homeless.3
In those demolitions, both the elderly and children cried out in fear, but could not
stop the evictions. It seemed that the policemen and soldiers were blind and deaf or
unwilling to see and hear what the people were feeling. They were only committed to the
order given by the authorities. They were loyal to the authorities but unfeeling towards the
people.
1

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/ether/forced-evictions-five-easy-steps-video (accessed Oct 2014).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV7FwFx6Jsc (accessed Oct 2014).
3
http://kadamay-natl.blogspot.sg/2013/01/more-foreign-investments-mean-more-jobs.html (accessed Oct 2014).
2

21

Finding hope
I recall the Accra Confession point 5,
We have heard that creation continues to groan, in bondage, waiting for its
liberation (Rom 8:22). We are challenged by the cries of the people who suffer and
by the woundedness of creation itself. We see a dramatic convergence between the
suffering of the people and the damage done to the rest of creation. 4
I agree in part that we may think that it is only the poor who want to be liberated because
they cry out but we must never forget that creation cannot cry for itself. The unjust actions
by demolitions are aimed at both the poor and creation.
When we visited the peasants in Hacienda Lucida, some people who were the
victims of demolition approached us and showed us the scars afflicted on them during the
forced eviction. One of them was an old lady who told us that she had lost almost all of her
teeth during their fight from eviction. When I looked at them and heard them, I felt so
helpless. They did not ask for too much but desire that we can be their voice by retelling
their stories to the people in my country and to the world. Despite my own helplessness
towards their situations, these people give me a strong hope by their courage. They were
the bravest and most resolute people I have ever met in my life. They taught me to stand
strong and to face any circumstances in my life as a pastor.
I do not want to stay angry and helpless anymore. We are in this together as a family
and together we can overcome this. I belong to this issue and so do you. Let us change this
world and make it a better place as it was before when God gave us as a gift. Therefore I ask
all people out there to take my hand and do what we can while we still have time.
As Patti Labelle puts it in the song Oh People 5 that
we should think of all the possibilities that the eyes of a child can see, think of all the
opportunities that float right by you and me. Take my hand and we will know all that
we dream, we are one, apart we are weak, together were strongFor as long as you
stand here by me, well live on.
If we can come together, we can indeed be strong, then there will always be hope and there
will always be a way to the problems we face, so let us not lose it.

Teanita is a pastor of the Kiribati Uniting Church formerly the Kiribati Protestant Church in South
Tarawa, Kiribati. She has a keen interest in womens issues.

4
5

http://wcrc.ch/accra-confession/ (accessed Oct 2014).

Oh People performed by Patti Labelle, 1986 (Writers: Bruce Roberts & Andy Goldmark).

22

Saying no to
the monopolization

of lands.
Introduction
I am from Madagascar and had lived for
RAKOTOARIMANANA Rado Daniela
four weeks in the Philippines and something has
changed in me; now I have a different view of
the world. The program Face the Facts helped
open my eyes to the realities in this world. We
saw in the movies that there is always a hero who saves the poor in oppression. Life indeed
can be easier if everybody helps each other as in the movies and the rich shares with the
poor. Unfortunately, life is not a movie. In real life, one is alone and one needs to help
oneself or work alone. In this world, the rich become richer and more powerful while the
poor remain poor. The fact is that the few rich are at the top and the majority poor are at
the bottom.

Madagascar

I will tell you what I saw in a few communities, if you will listen
In Smokey Mountain, people live near the polluted river which flows between their
houses. It is unlike Venice. The same water is piped from the river to the house for drinking!
In our country, when we see plastics being thrown away, we will not pick them up. But in
the Plastikan community of Manila, they picked up the thrown away plastic bags. If you visit
Plastikan, you may hesitate to go on because of the stench smell in the area. Wherever you
go in the Plastikan community, you will notice lots of plastic garbages. The man of the house
will wake up daily at 4.00 am to collect and wash them in the creek nearby so that they can
be sold to the recycling companies.
If you want to avoid Plastikan, you may prefer to go to the Kasiglahan Village. It is a
relocation site. The conditions of living there are better but poverty remains rampant.
People living in the village have to travel a long distance to Manila city for work; their
children scavenge through garbages in the cities to recycle things. However, for the people

23

of Kasiglahan village, it is not the garbage or pollution that is a threat to their lives, but the
flood from the rivers during monsoon seasons which can submerge their houses.
Then there is the problem of arms, power and the military. The people in the
Haciendas De Luizita and Dolors have had to leave their lands because they did not have
money to obtain a title deed for their land. We understood that many people were forced to
go far away from their home to the cities or overseas to look for jobs to help feed the
family. They scavenge, some go into prostitution, and others endure bad working conditions
to earn a living. They have to fight for justice or to die for the land so that they can live.
All of us, we have one heart, one body and one soul and we hope for a better world.
But is it considered a crime for these poor people to hope for the same things? If they stand
for their rights, it is lawful to use arms against
They have to fight for them? Are not arms meant for protecting
people and not for oppression?

justice or to die for the

So there is seemingly no solution for

poor people to live in peace. In my opinion, the
first actor to resolve all the problems of the
population is the government. The duty of the government is to defend the rights of the
people in any country. If there is a problem, the government must find a solution for the
problem. But too often, governments promise and then do nothing. In the Philippines, we
found many non-governmental organizations supporting the struggles of these poor
communities as the alternative to defend the rights of the people.

land so that they can live.

We listened and heard of people being killed as they protested against the wrong
doings in their communities. These people were hurt during forced relocations. They
protested against the misappropriation of public funds. The poverty problem is so deep that
it even affects the young people's way of thinking. Youngsters do not have time to focus on
their studies and are easily influenced by money and ephemeral wealth.

Mining activities
Mining has existed in the Philippines for many years. I asked the question regarding
the rights to the mining projects. 11 of the 21 big mining projects of the Philippines are
located in Mindanao. With the Mining Act (1995), 6 the acquisition of land, water and
forest was made easier for foreign multinationals. All lands are owned by the state and joint
ventures with multinational companies are done on a distribution of 60% ownership to the
government and 40% to the companies. Mining activities in the regions of the indigenous
peoples means they will be evicted from their land. Companies do whatever they want.
6

http://www.psdn.org.ph/chmbio/ra7942.html (accessed Oct 2014).

24

The mining act gives total control of the water and forests in the area and therefore the
people were forced leave their lands.
The idea of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) 7 advanced by the Forest People
Programme is not acknowledged in the Philippines by the mining companies, who prefer the
Philippines Mining Act. In Malagasy, we would say Ny alika jambanny taolana fa ny olona
jambanny vola. It means that the dog is blinded by bones but humans by money. In the
mining industry, we are talking about many millions of dollars investment and profits. And
whenever there is lots of money, there are no more human rights.
Extensive mining activities led to environmental destruction. 8 People had organized
themselves to fight and protect their lands. First there were attempts in negotiation and
when no solution was found, violence was thus used. Refusal to leave the land meant you
were labeled a rebel whose actions were illegal in relation to the Mining Act. Protests came
in the form of barricading national roads to interrupt the activities of the companies. The
military responded with the use of armed forces, killing activists and locals and foreigners
included. 9

The story in Madagascar

We have a similar story back in my country, Madagascar. 70% of the Malagasy
people live in rural areas and have to leave their homelands mostly because of mining
activities. The year 2005 began a period of the increased presence of mining companies
such as the Sherrit International, Rio Tinto, Madagascar OIL, and Bionexx investing in
Madagascar. 10 The government in a rush for money fails to think about the future of our
country, our Madagascar. To the government, it does not matter if the projects are
marginalizing the locals. The foreign companies exploited the oil resources and all others
resources, disregarding the welfares of the local people. In Bemolanga, one of the poorest
regions in Madagascar, the local authorities did not even have full information about the
mining of tar sands in their territory. 11 All these exploitations resulted in the local poor
being affected by the pollution, toxins and loss of lands. Farmers were removed from their
7

C.f. http://www.forestpeoples.org/guiding-principles/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic (accessed Oct

2014).
8
C.f. http://www.piplinks.org/mindanao-natural-resources,-protectors-under-siege (accessed Oct 2014).
9
C.f. http://www.columban.org.au/e-news/e-news-vol.-4-no.-10/the-life-and-death-of-father-fausto-tentorio;
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1202848.htm; http://cpj.org/killed/2010/desidariocamangyan.php (accessed Oct 2014).
10
C.f. http://world.time.com/2013/02/08/the-white-stuff-mining-giant-rio-tinto-unearths-unrest-in-madagascar;
http://www.edbm.gov.mg/Economic-data/Sectors/Mining-Madagascar-land-of-hidden-treasures (accessed Oct
2014).
11
http://www.banktrack.org/manage/ajax/ems_dodgydeals/createPDF/madagascar_tar_sands;
http://www.wdm.org.uk/sites/default/files/RBS_madagscar_brief.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).

25

lands and imprisonments await those who refused to leave the lands. 12 Farmers being
forced to leave their lands cannot practice agriculture. With no farming, no food, no
autonomy, they lose their dignity and dignity is important for Malagasy people.
Today Madagascar is the worlds largest producer of sapphires. 13 The sapphires site
is in Ilakaka town, which is a desert in the far west of Madagascar. The same question can
be asked regarding the benefits given to the locals. There is no improvement in housing, in
the peoples lives or even in the
the church cannot just sit and techniques of mining. The site is large
and if properly managed could help in
watch the injustices The the development of the local
community but it goes unregulated.
church has to stand and act.
Unfortunately, exploitation of the locals
persists. There is evidence of children working in the mines; approximately 86,000 according
to International Labour Organisation. 14 The miners in Ilakaka have limited options in the
desert area as farming is not possible. Their wages are low and the mining conditions are
extreme.

Similarities between Madagascar and Mindanao

The expression the curse of natural resources was diffused to illustrate the
paradox of poor people living in countries rich in mining resources. The negative effects of
the mining activity upset the environment and the action of the multi-national companies
potentially generates violations of human rights and conflicts. The basic idea of the resource
curse is seen in the bad governance and corruption both in the Philippines and in
Madagascar. Mining can be beneficial to the local people if done on a reduced scale.
Employment and income for the locals can be done through artisanal mining. The generated
incomes can be important for future economic development through the growth of small
companies in the surroundings. However, this option has its challenges, as it is more
exposed to other factors such as natural disasters, such as the impact of typhoon Pablo in
Bango, Mindanao. In this case, often the miners and their family expose themselves to
difficult work conditions like in Ilakaka. In both countries, the problems of mining activities
are the same.

12

C.f. http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/21002 [accessed Oct 2014].

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/the_sapphire_mines_of_madagasc.html ;
http://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research-Sapphire-Mining-Ilakaka-Madagascar
14
http://www.tvcnews.tv/?q=article/86000-children-work-mines-southwestern-madagascar-ilo
13

26

My thoughts
In the bible text of First Kings chapter 21, King Ahab wanted Naboths vineyard but
was refused by Naboth. So King Ahabs wife sent people to kill Naboth and took his land
forcefully. The text showed that if one is powerful or have money, one can forcefully takes
another persons possession. Is that right? If one does not have money or power, does it
mean that the person is nothing and therefore those with power and money could take the
land and the persons life? Should not those who have more shares with those who have
less? If those who have more shares with people from Smokey Mountain, Plastikan or
Haciendas De Luizita and Dolors, giving them a small portion of the vast resources, then
they could continue to feed their families and live on. Then there would be no more
struggles; just a peaceful life. Would not one prefer to live in peace with others or rather live
alone in wealth?
Everyone has the right to have their own land, to live and to eat, as they want. I
totally disagree with the idea that you live alone in comfort while others in your community
suffer. I cannot accept that the basic human right to eat and live is taken from the people. I
appeal for the anti-monopolization of natural resources and giving the basic human rights
back to the local people of the land. I appeal to those in power and authority to develop
sustainable projects that not only protect the welfares of the local people but also protect
the environment so that there is a continuance of natural resources for the future
generations.
When I left Madagascar, I did not know much about mining activities. But now that I
have seen and heard about the mining situation in the Philippines, I have become more
aware about respecting the natural environment and the human rights situation in the
mining activities of my country.
Lastly, in my thoughts, I felt that the church cannot just sit and watch the injustices
and oppression caused by government policies and the exploitation of the majority by the
rich. The church has to stand and act. Like it is written in the book of Esther 8: 6 (NIV),
How can I endure it if this disaster comes on my people, and my own relatives are
killed?
We cannot say that I have faith and trust in God to all who are suffering and in destitute. We
must do something for them. We must act, for faith without works is dead (James 2:17,
NIV).

Daniela comes from Madagascar and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar. She
is a college student in Geology and a scout leader.

27

The Plastikan community.

2014 Participants.

Wild Capitalism:

The Hacienda
Dolores experience
Lordwell Siame
Introduction

Zambia

This paper reflects on the concept of Wild Capitalism through what I have seen as
the impact on local peasant farmers in the Philippines. A visit to Hacienda Dolores was one
of the many moments of immersion into the struggles of the poor in the Philippines during
the Face the Facts program. This is my personal reflection from one month of
experiencing the facts in the Philippines.

Wild Capitalism
Tarcisio Agostoni 1 argues that there are many definitions and types of capitalism,
depending on ones school of thought. Because of the scope of this reflection, I will rely on
Tarcisio Agostonis concept, which he calls Wild Capitalism. He defines Wild Capitalism
as a free market economy in which business acts purely on its terms and interests, without
caring for the long term consequences of its actions. In this case, capitalism takes a certain
extreme form; in which government does not interfere with business activities at all. The
adage he who pays a piper determines a tune is true as we see the capitalists determine
the rules.
The world today is passing through a rough path. This rough path is being
perpetrated by what Nestor calls the Global Empire. 2 It is a path that has impacted
negatively on poor people in many different parts of the world. The main drive of this
empires dominance is capitalism. Nestor argues that the real scaffolding behind the

Agostoni Tarcisio, Every Citizen's Handbook (Paulines Publications Africa, Nairobi, 1997; reprinted 2005).
Rev. Dr. Nestor O. Miguez, Jesus and Empire: Then and Now in Living Faithfully in the Midst of Empire
Report to the 39th General Council 2006 (The United Church of Canada, 2007), 50. http://www.unitedchurch.ca/files/economic/globalization/report.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).
2

28

Empire is the international financial network, and it is this logic that all peoples expectation,
cultures, and nations must submit. 3

Hacienda Dolores
Hacienda Dolores (the Land of Dolores) is an area of approximately 1,125 hectares of
land situated in Porac, Pampanga. This land has been home to peasant farmers from time in
memorial. Most of the residents and farmers found in this place inherited their farms from
their foreparents. Hence this land for them is their heritage and source of livelihood. In a
recent report, September 2014 by Luisita Watch, about 350 peasant farmers and 1,500
families face eviction in the Hacienda Dolores. 4
On September 16th, 2014, we were brought to the place and saw that it was being
guarded by armed plain clothes goons (local military), who victimized and prevented
farmers from accessing their produce and houses. During the group focused discussion, the
chairperson of the Alliance of Peasants in Central Luzon zone,5 Mr. Joseph Canlas, explained
that, the Comprehensive Agrarian Land Reform Program (CARP), 6 launched by the Philippine
government, declared Hacienda Dolores a barren, idle and non-agriculture land, therefore,
it is suitable for infrastructure development. This is echoed by Ms Carmencita Karagdag,
Coordinator for Peace for Life, who explained to us during the Face the Facts program that
the landowners (i.e. the Hacienda Dolores landed elite) are in cahoots with the government
and are trying to avoid land reform and distribution of land to the tenant farmers, as
prescribed by the Land Reform Law, by claiming that the land is not good for agricultural
production and should thus be converted into industrial or some other non-agricultural use.
This is how many landowners have evaded the Land Reform Law.
Two multinational companies, Leonardo-Lachenal Holding Inc. and FL Property
Management Corp, in partnership have acquired the Hacienda Dolores land for the purpose
of constructing an upscale commercial and residential area.7 Hacienda Dolores is not a
barren and unproductive land, as Katrina Stuart Santiago contended,
really, were this idle land, why would the developers have to clear it of mango,
guava and coconut trees, rice land and vegetable crops? If this were land that had no
3

Ibid.
Lusita Watch, Facebook post, 29 September 2014 (accessed Oct 2014).
https://www.facebook.com/luisitawatch1/posts/597864893657463.
5
Central Luzon is the richest agricultural Zone in Manila region. This vast land is well known for rice
production.
6
According the official government gazette, CARP it is a government initiative that aims at granting landless
farmers and farm workers ownership of agriculture land. It became a law in 1998. C.f.
http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra-6657-what-is-carp-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program
7
http://www.asianpeasant.org/content/apc-supports-farmers-camped-out-protest-landgrabbing-may-25-2014
(accessed Oct 2014).
4

29

tenants, why was there a need to fence off the land to bar farmers from their
crops? 8
Peasant farmers protested when the multinational corporations tried to enter and evict
them forcefully. Rina Jimenez-David reported that
Last year [2013] and early this year [2014] it was in the eye of controversy when
farmers tilling the land protested the harassment by armed men forcing them to
vacate their farms. Two farmers were also killed with protest groups attributing their
deaths to the land dispute. 9
The farmers are committed in their quest to assert and fight for their heritage and
land. They have remained united and resilient in
their struggles and are receiving support from other They have remained
peoples movements, alliances and organizations.
united and resilient in
Prof. Sarah Raymundo, University of the
Philippines (UP), in her lecture on the social reality their struggles
of the Philippines to the participants of Face the
Facts (2014), argued that the land distribution in the Philippines is biased towards the rich.
She argued further that capitalism has worsened peasant farmers opportunities, because
they have to grapple with the dictates of capitalism. In my opinion, it is difficult to
understand why the place was declared barren or idle when a single farmer in Hacienda
Dolores can harvest 8 tonnes of guava fruits during the three months of harvesting period; a
kilogram of guava fetches 20 pesos on the markets in Manila; on average a farmer makes
160,000 pesos per three months. Translating this into monthly income, it means that a
single peasant farmer gets 13,333.33 pesos per month on average. When analyzed critically
a peasant farmer in Hacienda Dolores gets better income than an average formal employed
individual who is paid according to the national minimum wage, 10 which is 315 pesos per
day, which translates into 9,450 pesos per month without deductions. In this case, the
decision to evict peasant farmers in order to pave way for a multi-national corporation does
not make sense economically.
In a 2012 press statement, President Aquino on a visit to United Kingdom
emphasized that the Philippines offered exciting investment opportunities for British

Katrina Stuart Santiago, Developing Hacienda Dolores in Manila Times, January 22, 2014.
http://www.manilatimes.net/developing-hacienda-dolores/69870/ (accessed Oct 2014)
9

Rina Jimenez-David, Development after lahar in Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 September 2014.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/78644/development-after-lahar (accessed Oct 2014).
10
According to NXP union, the minimum wage threshold in the Philippine is 315 pesos for workers working in
urban areas.

30

business. 11 However, one wonders whom that investment is for, or who is going to be
disfranchised should the British investors decided to invest in the Philippines. There is a
sense of betrayal and a lack of confidence in the government as farmers in the Philippines
tend to suffer the fate like those from Hacienda Dolores. The government favours the
foreign investors without regarding that these farmers can be potential macro investors
who need to be enabled. According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
there are
wide disparities in income and quality of life across regions and sectors in
Philippines. The number of poor people remained high (26.5 percent of the total
population lives below the poverty line, including 10 million women). While the
country is abundant in natural resources, environmental assets remain unavailable
to poor groups owing to exclusion, insecure land tenure, lack of access to
technologies; or the resources are degraded. Social inequities are rife and impact
indigenous people, fisher folk, women and the informal sector the most. 12
Poverty and high unemployment have resulted in the Filippinos choosing to work
overseas as domestic workers, artisans and professional workers. Looking back at the
eviction account of 350 peasants from Hacienda Dolores, one can see that the eviction will
cause them to lose their livelihoods resulting in more unemployed individuals. In the
Philippines, there is no guarantee that the benefits from foreign investments will trickle
down to disenfranchised farmers directly. Wherever multinational corporations invested the
circumstances for those disenfranchised are always the same. I see an example from my
own Zambia to the story of Hacienda Dolores.

The Zambian Experience

In a 2011 report, residents in Kalumbila village of Solwezi district in the North
Western Province were evicted due to the establishment of a US$ 1billion mining project by
a Canadian mining firm, First Quantum minerals. 13 Known as the Trident project and
developed tthrough its subsidiary Kalumbila Minerals Limited (KML), the eviction had displaced
1,400 families among them 570 peasant farmers, 105 livestock farmers, 100 bee-keepers
and many more entrepreneurs had to vacate for a new destination. 14 According to the
eviction agreement, each family was to be compensated with a house and money for
11

C.f. http://philembassy-uk.org/joint-press-statement-of-president-benigno-aquino-iii-of-the-philippines-andprime-minister-david-cameron-of-the-united-kingdom-on-the-occasion-of-the-official-visit-to-the-unitedkingdom-of-pres (accessed Oct 2014).

12
http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/countryinfo (accessed Oct 2014).
13
C.f. http://www.lusakatimes.com/2011/11/14/compensate-solwezi-residents-displaced-us1-billion-tridentproject-ccz (accessed Oct 2014).
14
C.f. http://allafrica.com/stories/201309070169.html (accessed Oct 2014).

31

damages. However, according to Juliet Ilunga, the Social and Economic Justice Secretary of
the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), [i]nstead of celebrating the new investment, the
surrounding community [of Kalumbila] is complaining about the manner in which they have
been treated. 15 However, to date, only 100 families have been partially compensated 16
and most employment opportunities have either gone to the foreigners or people from
other districts.
I believe that the devastating impact of eviction in Hacienda Dolores may be worse
than the Kalumbila ordeal. This is because, unlike Kalumbila peasant farmers, the Hacienda
Dolores peasant farmers have not been offered an alternative as compensation. Forced
migration leaves victims with no other choice but to search for a place where their
livelihood would be enhanced.
Forced migration leaves victims The worst case scenario is that
they would become yet another
with no other choice but to group of vulnerable people in
search for a place where their slums of Manila such as the
Plastikan or Smokey Mountain
livelihood would be enhanced. communities.17
I would suggest that, this example of Wild Capitalism is a cause of high poverty
levels in many parts of the world. In this instance, capitalism is only focused on profit and
there are no safeguards for the poor. It is a model of capitalism without moral conscience in
relation to the suffering of humans. Wild Capitalism which is very dehumanizing, is worse
than the devil, as one peasant farmer in Hacienda Dolores remarked. I believe that the
attitude of the government of the Philippines has facilitated this disenfranchisement of
farmers.

My Challenges
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
(Matthew 11:12, NJKV)

15

Compensate Solwezi residents displaced by US$1 billion Trident mine project CCZ, Lusaka Times, 14
November 2011. http://www.lusakatimes.com/2011/11/14/compensate-solwezi-residents-displaced-us1-billiontrident-project-ccz/ (accessed Oct 2014).
16
http://lusakavoice.com/2013/11/24/kalumbila-compensates-100-displaced-families/ (accessed Oct 2014).
17
Plastican and Smokey Mountain are unplanned slums found in Manila. Here people survive on inhumane
activities, such as scavenging plastics from rubbish pits, for sale to recycling companies. And on average, this
people make 100 pesos per day.

32

Like the man healed by Jesus who proclaimed though I was blind, now I see (John
9:25b, NKJV). Our people say that seeing is believing. For me, through this program, I have
seen and indeed have come to a greater awareness that capitalism is devastating and dehumanizing. Learning from the Philippines situation, I can truly say that I will never be the
same again. As a minister and a community leader, I have been greatly touched by what I
have seen and experienced in the Philippines during the one month of intense engagements
with the real facts of life. I personally feel duty-bound to act by changing my own pastoral
approach. My conviction comes particularly from Professor Lizette Tapia-Raquel of Union
Theological Seminary, who in her lectures during the Face the Facts program, remarked that
in the church we are always taught to be obedient, but not to assert.18 This is a reason the
church and its leaders would rather keep quiet in the name of being obedient to the
authority despite facing oppressions. She further added that the prophetic role of the
church demands that evil must be confronted. In Bemba, one of the Zambian languages
they say Ululumbi lwa Mulanda Kukakata, which literally means that, the glory of a poor
man is to be stubborn. This learning experience for me is a clarion call to action, to change
my style of interpreting scriptures and also to tell other people about the need to cry out
when it pains, rather than encouraging suppression of pain.
Away from my resolution, it is my prayer that such learning styles as we have been
exposed to, can be extended to many people such as the laity and clergy in various churches
so that, if many people experience and feel the way we have felt, our struggles and
advocacy can go a long way. Remember, we can only find much strength in our unity as long
as we fight together, we will never be defeated.

Conclusion
We have seen the devastating impact of Wild Capitalism from the Hacienda
Dolores. If capitalism is left unchallenged, it will continue to condemn many more people
into destitution. It suffices therefore, that we learn from the peasant farmers of Hacienda
Dolores, who in the mist of their predicaments, did not give up but continued fighting
through lobbying for support, protesting, picketing and resisting.

Siame Lordwell is a minister of the United Church of Zambia, the father of three sons. He has also
had training in the areas of Diplomatic Practice and International Relation as well as Community
Development.

18

Professor Lizette Galima Tapia-Raquel, Biblical-theological reflection, class lecture, Face the Facts
program, Manila, Philippines, 12 September 2014.

33

Embracing a Theology

of

Empire

An old man finds a dirty and worthless coin on the

street and wants to give it to the person, which is
obviously in need the most. After having looked for
that person everywhere, eventually he gives it to
the king of the country. The king is getting angry
and asks whether he really needs that money. The
old man answers that he is the most needy as there is no mosque and no
market, where one doesnt have to submit money to the king: Every fibre of
your body longs after money and you are begging everywhere just to play the
king for a certain time. (translated, 7/7, 115) 19

Simon Wiesgickl
Germany

Introduction
Three weeks of encounter with many social movements, harsh realities and
challenging people let me leave the Philippines with an urgent call to understand and reflect
the said impressions theologically. Given the facts of mass unemployment, a huge rush out
of the country and the gripping struggle on land, this kind of reflection cannot escape the
broader picture of globalization and global political economy. In this article, I will highlight
some of my experiences in the Philippines and try to outline some basic theological insights.
Part of the conclusion will be to show where a classical approach informed by liberation
theology fails to grasp the picture and how the discussion with Muslim insights might
deepen the understanding.

Starting with
One of the locus theologicus of liberation theology is the Exodus tradition. A people
of slaves is liberated and led to the Promised Land by a charismatic leader performing
19

Farid od-Din Attar, Book of Affliction, quoted in Navid Kermani, Der Schrecken Gottes. Attar, Hiob und die
metaphysische Revolte, (dtv Verlag Mnchen, 2008), 115.

34

several miracles and a powerful god smiting his enemies to death. No wonder it was also
highlighted in the Face the Facts program and our own attempt during the program to
understand the challenges of Empire theologically. After having seen the urban poor
communities at Tondo and in Plastikan, it seems hard to resist the moral impetus of
understanding Jesus as a liberator bringing the good news to the least and marginalized. No
doubt, there is a good part of biblical evidence like the first message of Jesus reiterating the
prophetical call of Isaiah,
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to proclaim good
news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of
the Lords favor. (Luke 4:19-20, NIV)
But which political leaders are willing to listen to the prophetical call of the church?
Is not the international
reaction to the issue of climate After having seen the urban poor
change the best probe for the communities
at Tondo and in
failure
of
prophetical
statements made time and Plastikan, it seems hard to resist the
again? Is not the reality of the moral impetus of understanding
urban poor dreaming of latest
technology
like
Samsung Jesus as a liberator bringing the good
mobile phones and their kids news to the least and marginalized.
wearing shirts of NBA heroes
display more ambivalence and open to interpretation than any straightforward liberation
theology? And can the victims of Yolanda be counselled by simply referring to a bigger
justice to come one day in history? What about the 24 union officers of NXP Semiconductors
in Cabuyao who were illegally dismissed 20 because they took a public holiday to support
their local churches in the festival time of Easter? 21 Do they still believe that the church is on
the side of the poor and that God is a God of the workers and peasants?
Even on biblical grounds, such a phrase like kingdom of God, is not only presenting
an alternative to the Roman empire of the time but it can be criticised for not overcoming
the logics of Empire itself. This kind of ambivalence is to be seen in the writings of Pauls
mockery about the hierarchy in the early congregation of Jerusalem where pillars of
humans have appeared (c.f. Galatians 2:9). The human hierarchy seemed to appear in the
early church. And what about the vision on the heavenly kingdom presented in the book of
Revelation? Is it not in itself a copy of the power structures of the said Roman kingdom and
20

C.f. http://www.industriall-union.org/philippines-entire-union-executive-sacked-for-refusing-to-work-onnational-holiday (accessed 1 Oct 2014).

21
C.f. http://goodelectronics.org/news-en/global-day-of-action-for-24-dismissed-workers-of-nxp-philippines .
(accessed 1 Oct 2014).

35

far from a liberating ethos, especially when one considers the richness and attributes of
wealth and power described in Revelation chapter four.
The Exodus tradition seems not only under pressure from within but also from
without. It is stunning that the Philippines are seen by investors as the promised land of
never-ending and overflowing economic growth. The promises of development are exactly
said to lift up the poor masses and grant them education, jobs and social welfare. The
rhetoric of Exodus seems to be quite open for neo-liberal political agendas to buy in and use
it for the sake of torturing peasant communities and urban poor with the tools of
mainstream development.
The question remains on how does one responses to the high moral claims and the
utopian vision of such kind of theology? Will it not be very difficult and almost impossible
for the participants of Face the Facts to live up a theology of resistance of moral pressure
while at the same time, friends and families back home will ask for some nice souvenirs?
Will they not be tempted to accept the sweet promises of consumerism while upholding a
language of solidarity? In the words of one of the participants of the program, the devil is
not as dark as it is painted.
Liberation theology tends to be idealistic and utopic when it is not trying to analyse the
on-going impacts of Empire sharply and without fear of giving space to ambiguities. 22
Insisting on the prophetic voice of the church might lead to a moral pressure, which is
simplifying the connected and powerful logics of Empire. Although the said crisis of
liberation theology and the upcoming questions are global in nature, the Philippines seems
to be a good example and can inform a case study for several reasons:

The historical development in the Philippines, especially its religious history unique
to the Southeast Asian region and its rich history of revolution, oppression and social
struggles.
The position of the Philippines in the global division of labour and the huge amount
of OFWs supported in their decision by an administration, that is understanding the
production of overseas workers and their frequent remittances as a source of
annually GDP growth.
The policy of cheap labour and the growing influence of the Philippines for the key
industries of electronic goods, technical support (such as the call centres) and
domestic work and home health care.

22

An illustrated critique of some of liberation theologys idealistic shortcomings can be found in: R.S.
Sugirtharajah, A Postcolonial Exploration of Collusion and Construction in Biblical Interpretation, in: R.S.
Sugirtharajah (Ed.), Postcolonial Reconfigurations. An Alternative Way of Reading the Bible and Doing
Theology (SCM Press Canterbury, 2003), 13-36.

36

There is also an interesting point in Philippian history mirroring those questions of right
analysis and strong answer to the problems of injustice and oppression. In Noli me Tangere
(1886) Jose Rizal wrote:
In the catalogue of human ills there is to be found a cancer so malignant that the least
touch inflames and causes agonizing pains; afflicted with such a cancer, a social cancer,
has your dear image appeared to me, when, for my own hearts ease or to compare you
with others, I have sought, in the centers of modern civilization, to call you to mind. 23
The revolution of the Ilustrados did not bring the social and political freedom to the country
it would have reserved but gave only way to one of Americas colonies to be born. If today
people argued that the new social cancer is ethical, they have failed to see the whole
picture of global political economy and the role played by the Philippines. A theology which
could answer to the urgent call of the poor in the Philippines needs to consider the global
political economy of the day and its alternatives. It should not homogenize the so-called
poor and should not make the mistake of establishing strong moral calls which cannot be
fulfilled but will lead to mere hypocrisy. Answers may however be found in a Filipino
theology of struggle and in some Muslim philosophical thoughts.

Getting the picture right

Having refused an ethical or moral disease as the biggest problem of the Philippines, the
need to identify the most urgent problems remains critical. The social movements and NGOs
we visited during the program pointed to a multi-structural analysis of peoples needs and
calls.

For the workers and the more radical unions and its members it was mainly the
casual employment and the contractualisation of labour which need to be
addressed. The above-mentioned policy of cheap labour, especially in the exportoriented zones, is also a big hindrance to an equal and just society. Since the 80s, the
social security, the benefits of workers and the right to organize oneself have been
dramatically reduced on a global scale. The competition for FDIs among the Asian
countries have resulted in a situation, where the government is waging a war against
its own people to make sure, that foreign investors feel the most comfortable within
the country.
In Mindanao, where the problems of the whole Philippines can be seen in a nutshell,
it can be said, that there are not only natural calamities like the hurricane Yolanda,
but also man-made calamities e.g. the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which was
established right after the Philippines joined the WTO. It grants foreign companies

23

Quoted in Yen Makabenta, Our new social cancer is ethical, Manila Times, September 18, 2014.
http://www.manilatimes.net/new-social-cancer-ethical/127450/ (accessed Oct 2014).

37

100% ownership, permits a fulltime operation including the right to evict families
and demolish their homes and farms.24

The presence of military has been intensified due to the Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). There is an on-going discussion, whether the
treatment is in accordance with the Filipino constitution or not. In many parts of the
country, there is no lack of security forces and military personal, but their presence
can be felt everywhere. This leads to the situation, that in Mindanao, schools have
been ransacked and were even forced to shut down, if they were in remote areas
where mainly indigenous people are living. 25

Education in public schools is facing severe challenges, as in Manila city for example
due to lack of buildings, students are taught in three shifts a day, meaning that
teachers have to give classes for around 8 hours a day. The education is said to be
colonial, oppressive and not for the sake of communities identities or their urgent
demands, but for the sake of the global economy and its demand for human
workforce.

The president of the Philippines, who could be a leading figure in overcoming the
said problems, is facing three impeachment processes, because of corruption and
the handling of EDCA. The Pork Barrel Scam (PDAF) shows how the corrupt elite is
using money proposed to contribute to the development of the country by pleasing
their own political supporters and their close families. This political culture of
impunity inherits the risk of leading to growing cynicism within the country and
perplexed fatalism outside the country. 26

The doctrine of the church is concentrating on the suffering of Christ. That means,
that people who are themselves going through a crisis and are subject to oppression,
poverty and violence are consolidated with reference to the suffering of Christ, a
suffering that outruns every human suffering. A theology of this kind is not really
changing the situation of the people, but perpetuating their suffering and thereby
contributing to the political agenda of the elite. But also the liberation theology or a
theology of struggle is justifying God within the context of land-grabbing and
violation of human rights by confessing the sidedness of God with the poor and
marginalised.

24

C.f. http://www.rmp-nmr.org/articles/2013/10/01/human-rights-violation-related-mining-projects-philippines
(accessed Oct 2014).
25
C.f. Save our Schools: Towards Reconstructing Notions of Children and Education, 2nd Save Our Schools
Conference, September 26, 2014.
http://www.rmp-nmr.org/sites/default/files/downloads/kidlap%20october%202014.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).
26
C.f. Rainer Werning, Selbstverliebt und pathetisch. Ein Kommentar zur jhrlichen Rede an die Nation des
Prsidenten Benigno S. Aquino III, in Sdostasien 3,2014, 60.
http://www.asienhaus.de/soainfo/publikationen/suedostasien-aktuelle-ausgabe/(accessed Oct 2014).

38

The above listed problems can be found not only in the Philippines but are common to
most developing countries. Those countries rich in natural resources or minerals are
exploited of its richness for the sake of development without measuring the ecological
damage and costs caused by the multinational companies. Only a few countries in South
America have dared to refuse this logic of international capitalism in the last decade.
Seemingly, in the Asian region, the race for foreign investors and the on-going politics of
cheap labour has only just begun. For example, the last political statements and signed
agreements of Indias prime minister Narendra Modi. 27

I.

From personal impressions

The strength of the Face the Facts program was not so much in presenting the picture
of globalisation, which can easily be abstracted and absorbed by taking up the daily news
and comparing the promises of development with the actual state of the world we are living
in. The strength of the program was more in giving faces to the numbers, which are
mentioned above, in presenting stories and communities, where development officers and
government employees might only present data and prospects. As most of the problems are
global in nature and like the climate change not caused by those who are suffering, but by a
small elite and many consumers following a bubble of dreams and drafted realities all
around the globe.
What caught my attention was the way the urban poor, the peasant and worker
communities and the agents of social change and people movements dealt with different
cultures and values. It seems that all foreigners are called Americans and are somehow
admired by many. The young people like to take pictures with Americans and the
footprint of American pop culture is in almost all places. All these left me with an uncanny
feeling. In the alternative schools and learning centres, the local teachers have to rebuild
some local cultural values and teach classical songs to foster the cultural identity of the
students. The beauty ideal in the country is either the mestizo or the Korean appearance
resulting in facial whitening being the standard of all Filipino cosmetic products.
At the same time, there is a culture of resistance which expresses itself in the farmers of
Hacienda Dolores using all kinds of tricks and techniques to get rid of the paramilitary forces
occupying their fields and soil. It also expresses itself in the organised strength of many
people movements and their strong rallies, uncompromised stand and solidarity with the
struggles of other movements. Even the streams of pop culture like the performance of the
27

See on Modis foreign policies as a chief minister of Gujarat: http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/indian-foreignpolicy-under-narendra-modi (accessed 1 Oct 2014).

39

UP Pep Squad and its strong message for gender equality also display the culture of
resistance.28
Among the most striking and valuable experience in Mindanao was the meeting with the
womens group of Khadidja in Waan. It was very mind-blowing to see a group where women
can make the policies in such a way and are pushing their issues strong and united. Islam
was a part of their cultural identity but not the only way to understand their activism and
their way of interpreting their harsh realities as a minority group within the Philippines and
the main target as part of the bigger Muslim community in the global war on terrorism,
which is haunting them every now and then. 29 Their cultural expression was at the same
time open to modern interpretations and firmly rooted in their tribes tradition. When we
consider the Moro community in the Philippines, one has to consider their specific way of
interpreting and practicing their religion. Though being part of the larger ummah, their way
of living out their faith has been shaped by the very context of the Philippines and local
ethno-linguistic traditions. 30 Folk Islam with its rich Sufi traditions had been quite strong in
Mindanao. Beginning from the 1950s, the Egyptian government has sent many imams and
granted scholarships to many Filipino Muslims to study in Egypt. Many teaching materials
are donated from the Arabic countries and are of little relevance to the particular context of
Mindanao. Traditional folk Islam has been further challenged by the Islamic resurgence
since the 1980s and young Islamic leaders who came back from the Middle East. 31
Nevertheless one can define it as a culture of resistance that the womens group of Khadidja
is representing and standing for. It delivers a starting point to my imagination of cultural
transformation. It is for this reason that I want to rely on some Sufi traditions and its rich
culture of resistance though writing from a Christian perspective. I hope that stories of
opposition to God may help to find a theological understanding of the Filipino situation in
terms of Empire.

28

In its 2014 performance it were not only the men carrying the women in spectacular moves, but the women
carried the heavier men as well as to demonstrate their strength and overcoming the gender biases in
cheerleading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ8yA3HNIlo (accessed 1 Oct 2014).
29
It is not possible to mention the whole picture of Muslim communities in the Philippines here and it surely has
to be differentiated between different ethno-linguistic groups among Muslims themselves. But what one has to
state is that there are differences between majority situations and minority situations and there is a tendency to
define oneself through a suppression of cultural and religious identity in minority situations, which that
particular group seemed to escape. C.f. Jan Stark, Muslims in the Philippines, Journal of Muslim Minority
Affairs 23 no. 1 (April 2003): 195-209.
30
Though we know that Muhammad Kabungsuwan is said to be the first to introduce Islam to Mindanao and
under Sharif Abu Bakr there has been an autonomous political administration as early as in the fifteenth century,
the history of Islam in Mindanao is far from being stable and cannot be interpreted without its international
dimension. In 1972 the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) presented its goals to the Islamic Conference
(OIC) in Jeddah and gained vast support in the whole Muslim world. Cf. Ibid, 202. See as well: "Philippines."
Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel,
W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2014. http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam2/philippines-COM_0889 (accessed 5 November 2014).
31
Jan Stark, 206.

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II. to a theology of Empire

There have been many attempts to come to terms with a theology of Empire. I want to
concentrate on three aspects and highlight important findings concerning a theology of
Empire.

1. The Filipino Context

For the Filipino context, I want to mention the former Bishop of the IFI Alberto B.
Ramento. He has to be praised for speaking out clearly and without any possible
misunderstanding the thread globalisation and its logic is posing to the church. That is one
integral part to a Theology of Empire, not to remain mum or simply be a bystander, but raise
ones voice and challenge the Empire.
The present world order is the opposite of our vision (justice for the poor). Instead of
giving signs to the realization of the reign of God, the new world order is ruled by
world super powers whose economic policy is to conquer the world through the
doctrine of free market enterpriseThe Philippine government serves not the poor
but its economic masters by selling the dignity and integrity of the Filipino people
whom Jesus Christ had promised abundant life. 32
A theology of Empire should keep in mind what has happened ever since to those
people fighting for justice and peace in the Philippines: The said Bishop has been killed in his
house, because he has sided with the striking peasants in Hacienda Luisita and protested
against the massacre among the peasants on November, 16 in 2004. 33

2. Being the Church in the Midst of Empire

On the international level there have been many attempts to formulate a theology of
Empire, one being the book Being the Church in the Midst of Empire (2007) published by
the Lutheran World Federation. One of the basic ideas behind the engagement of church
people and theologians in dealing with Empire is to strengthen the binds between people of
different cultures and even religions and in this resisting the ideology of divide et impera, of

32

Franz Segbers, To be catholic means to have brothers and sisters worldwide in faith catholicity and
globalisation unity and diversity in Catholicity in Times of Globalization: Remembering Alberto Ramento,
Martyred Bishop of Workers and Peasants, edited by Franz Segbers & Peter-Ben Smit (Luzern: Exodus, 2011),
37. This publication is available in German, French, and Dutch.
33
For updated information on Hacienda Luisita and the land struggle with the presidents family see:
http://luisitawatch.wordpress.com (accessed 1 October 2014).

41

divide and rule which can be found in so many places of the world. 34 It is the logic of
capitalism and the ruling Empire that the main relationship between different people should
be that of competition. There is a place for competition in sports and cultural expressions,
but where it is ruling all relationships between people, the church has to stand up and resist
the said ideology.
Another important aspect might be to free the church of its Constantinian
captivity. 35 What is understood by this term is the mingling of the church with the ruling
classes and supporting its cultural hegemony over the whole country. Instead the church
should side with the poor and also enabling communities of resistance, where the
mainstream consumerist culture is challenged and alternatives are lived out. This can
happen symbolically through the support of a local coffee cooperation instead of
multinational corporations and their products. But apart from such a symbolic gesture, it
remains a challenging task to develop and support expressions of counter culture in the
church, so that the church can really become a church of the poor and for the poor.

3. A spirituality of Resistance
In almost every religious tradition, there is the strong tendency to praise the world
we are living in as one created perfectly by the creator. A classic example can be found in AlMulk:
[And] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the
Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return [your] vision [to the sky]; do you see any
breaks? Sura 67:3
Confronted with the suffering of so many people, there has been a tendency within
Shia Islam and certain Jewish traditions, to refer to a superior justice yet to be seen at the
end of the days established through God alone. Liberation theology in all religions has
revised this kind of thinking and highlighted the responsible actions of humans right now.
Nevertheless still they hold on to justify God and blame the people if something is going
wrong. In the mystical tradition of Islam, called Sufism, there have also been some figures,
which openly confronted God and wrestled with him like Ayyub (Job) did. One of those rare
figures was Attar who lived from 1145-1221 in Nischapur (Persia) and published several
books among those as well the above-cited Book of Afflictions. 36 During his time, he was
34

Co.f. Karen L. Blomquist, Preface: Being the Church in the Midst of Empire in Being the Church in the
Midst of Empire. Trinitarian Reflections edited by Karen L. Blomquist (Lutheran University Press, Geneva
2007),19.
35
C.f. Charles Amjad-Ali, Empire and its Religious Legitimation: Betrayed by a Companion in Being the
Church in the Midst of Empire. Trinitarian Reflections edited by Karen L. Blomquist (Lutheran University
Press, Geneva 2007), .25-42.
36
C.f. Navid Kermani, Der Schrecken Gottes. Attar, Hiob und die metaphysische Revolte, dtv Verlag Mnchen
2008.

42

facing the Mongolian conquer of the Persian Empire with much suffering and social chaos
caused. He can be identified as one of the Muslim authors, to launch an open critique of
social circumstances, the ruling government and administration, as well as the Mullahs of
his time. One example of the said writings can be found in the little story at the beginning of
my article.
In Conference of the Birds Attar is lending his voice to several fools, which are
condemning God and blaming him for having been drunk, when he was distributing wealth
and goods among the people. The main difference between Attar and the Christian
theologian Augustin, who was also raising the severe question how there can be so much of
suffering and injustice in the world, when we believe in a just and powerful God, is that
Augustin gives voice to God, blaming the sinners, whereas Attar takes up the cry of the
suffering people blaming God. If we look at the way, how unemployed people, urban poor
and the farmers are blamed for staying in their misery, we see, how this Augustinian logic is
mirrored even today.
In a strong contradiction to such kind of theologies, a Theology of Empire wont allow
that the poor and marginalised are blamed for their misery. It has to side with the poor and
file their cases against a God, who is allowing such an injustice and seemed to be drunk
when he was distributing chances and opportunities among the people. This task is
definitely hard and challenging for the church and all people of faith, but there is a good
biblical tradition in the book of Job, Lamentations and in the Psalms, which can be made
fruitful for theological dialogue with other faith traditions as well. A Theology of Empire
therefore is a theology of struggle with the ruling classes - and god.

III.
Beyond Empire
In this paper, lots of importance has been given to the economic conditions of Empire as
found in the exposure in the Philippines. Future endeavours to understand the role of
Empire in our times and looking for ways to resist its logic need to address new forms of
Empire as well. Those in my mind are virtual companies and those active in saving most of
our data and allowing us to stay connected and in touch with most parts of the world. The
role of Google, Facebook, Twitter and other information giants is highly ambivalent. As most
of the Asian countries are leading in the way they adopt and make use of these
technologies, I am really looking forward to get to know ways of addressing those new
Empires and theological answers from an Asian perspective.

Simon is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of Erlangen- Nuremberg and
also works as an Assistant Professor. He is interested in politics, dreams of social change
and loves Liberation Theology and Dalit Theology.

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