Canadians urge P-Noy to stop violence against indigenous groups

(Photo by Rey Baniquet / Malacañang Photo Bureau / PCOO)

Hundreds of Canadians from different walks of lives signed a petition urging President Benigno Aquino III to stop violence against Lumads and other indigenous groups in the country.

Filipino journalists, politicians, church leaders and lay persons, activists, professors, lawyers, doctors, and artists signed the open letter to the President, the Manila Bulletin reported.

“We, the undersigned individuals and organizations in Canada, are writing to express our urgent concerns regarding the violent attacks on Indigenous Peoples (Lumads) in Mindanao allegedly perpetrated by members of the Philippine Armed Forces and by paramilitary groups that are reportedly created and armed by the military and operating under its command. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that these forces are committing killings, torture, forced displacement and harassment of residents, students and educators with impunity,” the petitioner wrote.

“We are deeply alarmed by the systematic escalation of the campaign of attack on Lumads in recent months. Of the 58 victims of Lumad killings since 2010, a total of 14, including Lumad children, were killed from March to September 2015.

Eleven of the victims were killed in three gruesome massacres,” they added.