Philippines’ Church under attack
Church and religious groups across the country have been under attack in recent years primarily because of their work in poor communities
Jenny Beth Mariano thought of installing additional bolt locks to strengthen the back door of the office where she was staying but the door jam was already old and flimsy.
The back door, which leads to the grassy backyard, made Jenny anxious especially after she was told to tighten security inside and outside the premises.
It has been weeks since the killing of seven activists, including a church worker, in the outskirts of the Philippine capital on March 7.
“We could be the next target,” said Jenny, adding that if intruders would force themselves into the house “at least I want to give them a hard time opening the door.”
“It would buy me time to put on some clothes,” said Jenny.
“We know how the police and the army work,” she said.
“They will strip you of your dignity before putting a bullet in your head. But I won’t allow them to do that to me.”
Jenny has been moving around from one place to another in the past two years, seeking sanctuary in Christian communities and church institutions, after authorities tagged her as a communist.
Background photo: Jenny Beth Mariano, 25, has been tagged as a “youth recruiter” for the communist-led New People’s Army in the Philippines’ Ilocos region. She is the president of the Christian Youth Fellowship of the North Luzon-Amburayan Conference of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict listed Jenny a “youth recruiter” for the communist-led New People’s Army in the northern Philippine region of Ilocos.
The government task force even mentioned her name in forums and anti-insurgency campaigns in villages and schools in the region.
Memes and posters linking her to the Communist Party of the Philippines have circulated on social media.
Jenny is president of the Christian Youth Fellowship of the Protestant United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in North Luzon.
The 25-year-old youth leader leads inter-religious dialogues, campaigns for justice and peace, and missions in poor communities.
She is also the spokesperson of the Ilocos Human Rights Alliance.
In 2017, she served as secretary-general of the youth organization Anakbayan in Ilocos that was tagged by the government as “an above-ground organization” of the Communist Party.
Jenny said her human rights work and church activities made her a target of red-tagging.
In an online forum on March 29, Army Brigadier General Audrey Pasia named Jenny as the “remaining recruiter” of communists in Ilocos Sur province.
The military official warned the public that the “primary adversary” of the Filipino youth is not the coronavirus disease but the “communist virus.”
Screenshots of anti-communist materials posted on various social media platforms are projected on a wall during a forum on red-tagging in Manila. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Screenshots of anti-communist materials posted on various social media platforms are projected on a wall during a forum on red-tagging in Manila. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Jenny said she has been “overwhelmed with fear … not just for myself but for my entire family.”
Her parents — Pastor Marcelino Mariano and Diaconal Minister Daisy Mariano — have also been tagged by the government as “communist sympathizers.”
Marcelino was accused of preaching subversive ideologies for advocating environmental protection, land reform, and people-centered social services in his congregation.
The 49-year-old pastor led a campaign against black sand mining in the region from 2010 to 2014.
Daisy, 48, is deputy secretary-general of the Ilocos Human Rights Alliance.
Jenny Beth Mariano and another youth activist close the door of the office of Ilocos Human Rights Alliance. In the past two years, a number of offices of mass organizations across the country have been targeted by police raids. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Jenny Beth Mariano and another youth activist close the door of the office of Ilocos Human Rights Alliance. In the past two years, a number of offices of mass organizations across the country have been targeted by police raids. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Church under attack
Church and religious groups across the country have been under attack in recent years primarily because of their work in poor communities.
In 2019, the Department of National Defense listed the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) as one of the “front organizations of local communist terrorist groups.”
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines church in Sudipen town, La Union province, serves as the headquarters of the UCCP’s North Luzon-Amburayan Conference. Several lay leaders and pastors of the church have been subjected to vilification and red-tagging. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines church in Sudipen town, La Union province, serves as the headquarters of the UCCP’s North Luzon-Amburayan Conference. Several lay leaders and pastors of the church have been subjected to vilification and red-tagging. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict tagged the Protestant council, along with the UCCP and the Philippine Independent Church, as an “open sectoral organization” of communist rebel groups.
The task force said the religious institutions have direct links to the underground Christians for National Liberation under the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Church workers under these Protestant church groups have been red-tagged, harassed, intimidated, and attacked.
Red-tagging of church workers is “an explicit and dire threat,” said Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza, NCCP general secretary who was red-tagged.
“Red-tagging is a prelude to the actual physical attack that intends to hurt or kill.”
Human rights group Karapatan noted the “rising number of cases” of violations of human, civil, and political rights since 2016 when President Rodrigo Duterte came to power.
The rights groups said that from July 2016 to March 2021, there were a total of 114,499 cases of state-sanctioned threats, harassments, and intimidations.
There were at least 394 individuals who have been killed and 493 cases of “frustrated extrajudicial killings.”
Karapatan said seven church workers have been killed because of their involvement in human rights works, social justice, and environmental protection.
Father Christopher Ablon joins a demonstration during the celebration of Labor Day on May 1. Despite the red-tagging and threats to his life, the priest said he will continue to work for human rights, justice, and peace. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Father Christopher Ablon joins a demonstration during the celebration of Labor Day on May 1. Despite the red-tagging and threats to his life, the priest said he will continue to work for human rights, justice, and peace. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Background photo: Redemptorist priest Alex Bercasio wears a bracelet of colorful beads given to him by the indigenous Dumagat tribe in Tanay, Rizal. The priest has been serving the mission station in Rizal for more than three years already. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
NCCP recorded more than seven cases of political killings of church people.
In a report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the NCCP said most of the church people targeted “are those primarily fulfilling the Christian mandate and mission of ministering to the poor and the marginalized.”
A church worker reviews CCTV footage in the office of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in Quezon City. The NCCP installed additional cameras to monitor people who come in and out of the compound after a series of visits from the police and the military. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
A church worker reviews CCTV footage in the office of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in Quezon City. The NCCP installed additional cameras to monitor people who come in and out of the compound after a series of visits from the police and the military. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
“They undertake their prophetic task as Christians to be with the people, especially in times when the basic human rights of people and communities are being undermined,” it said.
The council said the Christian mandate “compels [church workers] to be with the last of the least and with the poorest of the poor to defend God’s image in every human being.”
“Their faith compels them to accompany people in asserting and attaining their full rights, but they are vilified, harassed, and even killed for doing so,” it added.
The Commission of Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches has appealed to the UN Human Rights Council and the Philippine government to “put an end to human rights violations against church people.”
It also called for respect for the freedom of religion and the exercise of ministries in the furtherance of religious beliefs.
The commission urged the Philippine government to rescind its counter-insurgency program, “which has resulted in many human rights violations.”
Church leaders said red-tagging is an attack not only against a religious institution or a church worker but against the “Church of the Poor.”
This project is made possible with the support of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Photojournalists Center of the Philippines
By Mark Saludes
Published June 4, 2021
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Redemptorist priest Alex Bercasio (front) and lay church workers and members of the Dumagat tribe wait on a riverbank during a humanitarian mission in 2018. Indigenous peoples have been displaced by the sporadic fighting between communist rebels and government soldiers in the rural areas. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Redemptorist priest Alex Bercasio (front) and lay church workers and members of the Dumagat tribe wait on a riverbank during a humanitarian mission in 2018. Indigenous peoples have been displaced by the sporadic fighting between communist rebels and government soldiers in the rural areas. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
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