A TEACHER at the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in Northern Mindanao challenged Archdiocese of Iligan to step up and not be a coward after the church left and stopped helping them in their efforts to find the missing teachers.
Melissa Comiso, RMP program coordinator said "now is not the time to back down especially the Church too, is under attack."
"Ang RMP, dili ni siya mamugna kung wala ang presensya sa mga kaparian, obispo ug uban pa (RMP won’t be established without the presence of the priests, bishops and others). Karon nga time, gidemanda ang inyong tabang kay dili pud ikalimod nga hinay-hinay gi-atake pud ang simbahan (Now is the time that your help is needed because the Church too is being attacked)," Comiso said.
Comiso said until now, the teachers are still nowhere to be found, while the military gives inconsistent statements.
"Ila ming gipasa-pasa, naay muingon nga naa sa ila, pero naa pud muingon nga wala daw sa ila ang mga teachers (Some would say they were at home but some would say the teachers were not in their homes). Bisan unsaon ninyo sila, they are teachers ra gyud, pasulata ug lesson plan detailed kaayo (Whatever you do to them, they are teachers. You let them make lesson plan, it’s very detailed)," she added.
According to RMP, the teachers have been under the custody of 103rd Brigade since November 12 without any case filed against them. The teachers include Tema Namatidong (28), Julius Torregosa (30), Ariel Barluado (22), and Jovanie Solomon (30).
Thru the help of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Iligan, the RMP met with a certain Corporal Rico Ordaneza of the 103rd Infantry Brigade on November 27, who confirmed that they have the teachers.
Ordaneza said the four are being investigated in their alleged involvement with Sultan Jamla who is facing criminal cases.
The Literacy and Numeracy (LitNum) school in Lanao just opened in June this year "to provide basic education to children in the community, with the government school five kilometers away," the RMP said.
"Like the Lumad (indigenous peoples) schools in other parts of Mindanao, these centers of learning aim to help the community members overcome illiteracy and help in their development," the RMP said in a statement.
"This attack against the volunteer teachers is yet another monstrous face of the ongoing martial law in Mindanao. Instead of supporting this initiative, the government and the state forces are using dirty and illegal tactics to force closure of these schools. On February this year, elements of the 8th and 26th IB encamped at another RMP-NMR LitNum school in Sitio Elian, Barangay Santa Filomena, Quezon, Bukidnon. With intense harassment against the volunteer teachers, the students, and the community, the school was closed. We demand an end to these attacks against schools and call on our friends to join us in denouncing this illegal arrest and detention of our teachers and to demand their immediate release," it added.