INSTEAD of red-tagging church people, Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Bishop Antonio Ablon said the government should instead focus and pour their resources in helping the victims of alleged aerial bombing in barangay Saad, Zamboanga del Sur where he said government aid had since been cut.
Ablon said he was red-tagged when he led a Community Solidarity and Mercy Mission in the said barangay last June 19-21 to help the residents who were victimized of the supposed aerial bombing allegedly perpetrated by the military in the area on May 29-30.
But Ablon said helping the poor and the marginalized has always been the foundation and mandate of the church and does not mean that he is part of the New People's Army (NPA).
On September 28, the cement fence of IFI Tigbao Parish in Zamboanga del Sur located along the highway was vandalized with the words “IFI=NPA".
Another markings were also spotted along the highway in Lacupayan, also in Tigbao town with the words “Bishop Ablon = NPA” and “IFI=NPA BAYAN”.
"Ang pagtabang mao ang hinungdan nga ginganlan kita nga NPA. Kita nga taga-simbahan, apil sa atong prophetic ministry ang pagpahibalo sa demand sa katawhan ug ang pagtabang. Samtang nangalagad kita sa Ginoo, dili kita muundang sa pagtabang," he said.
"But we will not cower, dili kita muundang, ang pasabot kung muundang ta, moundang nata sa pagtuo sa Dios, niundang napud ta sa pagpangalad. Samtang nangalagad ta, walay makapugong sa ato," he added.
Lorna Señara, secretary-general of lumad group Salabukan Nok G'Taw Subanen in barangay Saad, Zamboanga del Sur said the IFI church, along with the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) and several organizations were the ones who helped their community after government aid stopped.
"Nganung mahimo man sila ug NPA nga nagtabang raman sila sa among kalisod, sa kawad-on. Para sa amo, bulawanong kalipay kini kay walay lain nitabang sa amo kay lagi, kami daw mga NPA," Señara said.
"Dili makatarunganon nga kung kinsa ang makighiusa sa barangay Saad, ingnon dayon nga NPA. Wala man sila nang-harass, gituman hinuon nila ang mission sa nanginahanglan, kabus o kinsa ang nanginahanglan," she added.
IFI Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang said red-tagging IFI is highly alarming as it does not only grossly maligned and vilified the church and its ministry, but also irresponsibly place the life and security of Bishop Ablon and other bishops.
"This incidence strikes as highly unjust and uncalled for. These red-tagging and labelling discredit and undermine our precious sacred ministry as a Church- a ministry that serves only to be faithful to the mission entrusted by our Lord Jesus and articulated in his liberating Gospel," he said.
"Our mission and history as IFI predated the NPA and our ministry and prophetic witness is sourced up in the loving, life-giving, and liberating gospel of our Lord Jesus, a ministry which tries to live out the faith and heritage of the 'patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope'. These red-tagging and labelling are therefore misplaced and ridiculous in one sense and baseless and preposterous in another," he added.
The vandalism act is now under police investigation and Ablon said he is studying what charges to press against the perpetrators.