On the passing of Kerlan Fanagel, Indigenous Filipino Leader who Visted 2016 General Conference

by Drew Miller

In 2016, I met several Lumad leaders from the Philippines at the United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Oregon. The leaders were participating in Lakbay Lumad USA, a tour hosted by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and co-sponsored by the United Methodist Women and the Board of Church & Society.

During the speaking tour, the Lumad speakers shared their struggle against foreign mining companies and the militarization that came with the mining companies. Just a few months prior to their visit, 5,000 farmers in Southern Mindanao, home to the lumad, protested lack of government support and distribution of aid amid a drought. When the farmers peacefully protested, the police spared water cannons on them, and eventually fired bullets, killing one farmer and injuring others. The cry of the people become “Bigas Hindi Bala” or “Rice Not Bullets!” This was but one example of many instances of harassment and violence the Lumad people faced at the time. This video from the United Methodist Church gives an overview of the struggle of the Lumad.

The General Conference responded to the situation in the Philippines, amending and re-adopting Resolution #6118, which called for US restriction on military aid to the Philippines, the termination of US military agreements with the Philippines, and the resumption of peace talks in the country amid the ongoing civil war between the Community Party of the Philippines -New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and the government of the Philippines.

Since General Conference, however, the human rights situation in the Philippines has largely worsened. After his election in 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte ran one of the most brutal and militarist regimes in Philippine history, shutting down progressive schools for Lumad children, opening up the country for more foreign mining, and waging an intense killing spree against activists via a counterinsurgency campaign and a so called “war on drugs.” To make things worse, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of one of the most brutal dictators in history, became President in May 2022. Intense repression, killings, and disappearances of activists have continued under Marcos Jr. with no sign of let up.

This September, news came that one of the Lumad leaders who visited the General Conference in 2016, Kerlan “Lala” Fanagal, was killed. Katribu, an indigenous organization in the Philippines, confirmed that Kerlan had joined the New People’s Army in resistance to the government programs targeting the Lumad. Kerlan is one of many who have decided to join the New People’s Army as a response to severe oppression in the country.

Snap Mabanta, staff member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, who recently toured the United States as part of the Just and Lasting Peace Speaking Tour, explained the basis of the civil war in the country in an interview: “Why is there a civil war in the Philippines? We think it is the poverty, the historical neglect and the lack of basic social services. These are the reasons people wage war in the country.”

Kerlan’s choice to fight for land and rights in the New People’s Army was his solely, and not ours to judge – especially as people based in the United States, a country that has long held a necolonial relationship with the Philippines. Our role is to decide how we will respond to the social and economic crisis that Kerlan and the Lumad have helped expose, and to oppose the role the United States has played in worsening the crisis. While the United States continues to maintain the Philippines as a military outpost with nine bases, and as long as the U.S. continues to fund the Philippine military and police responsible for human right atrocities, it is our duty to organize in support of Philippine sovereignty and against US interference. If we want to contribute to peace in the Philippines, we must hold the US accountable for it’s perpetuation of war in the country. We can begin to do this through fulfilling resolution 6118 and push for the Philippine Human Rights Act, HR 1433, a bill that calls for the suspension of US military aid to the Philippines.

Isaiah 59 reads, “The Lord looked and is upset at the absence of justice”; let us also be upset, let us be in solidarity with people in the Philippines, let us be God’s image bearers, and devote ourselves to push for the Philippine Human Rights Act and for peace in the Philippines.