Catholic nuns participate in a protest in Manila in this Nov 5, 2017 file photo. (Photo: AFP)
By Joseph Peter Calleja
Sep 1 2022
We are not warmongers … we are peacebuilders, Rural Missionary Sisters say.
Defiant Catholic nuns in the Philippines facing criminal charges for allegedly financing terrorist groups have dismissed the allegations and defended their presence in poor and rural communities.
The Rural Missionary Sisters on Aug. 30 said their presence was part of their mission to help the poor and to build peace between them and the government, not to spark warfare.
The sisters denied government allegations that they violated the Anti-Terrorism Law by financing the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.
“We have raised this in many instances. We are not the enemy of the government. We have not aided or helped any terrorist group. Our projects go directly to aid the people,” they said in an Aug. 30 statement.
The nuns also denied allegations that their presence in rural provinces was to help the Communist Party recruit members and solicit funds for them.
“As missionaries, we are unapologetic and unwavering in our commitment to working in poor areas, even when these areas are visited by militarization and armed conflict,” they said.
“The law has been weaponized against us”
Part of their mission was to be “actually” present in marginalized, poor areas to be with Christ who was himself poor, the congregation said.
“Bringing services and accompanying grassroots leaders are effective methods for resolving community issues and sparking change and development that benefit the communities where we serve,” they added.
On Aug 15, the Justice Department indicted five sisters together with several other people in a court in Iligan City in Mindanao for allegedly financing a terror group.
The department alleged that the sisters did not file their counter affidavits to refute the charges against them, but the sisters said they did not receive any documents due to an erroneous address.
They claimed the government has weaponized the law to pin down dissenters by intimidating them with the controversial Anti-Terror Law.
“The law has been weaponized against us … but we will neither be cowed nor impeded by the renewed attacks,” they said.
“Their lies will only further the suffering and poverty”
“We will not cower, even as we are afraid. God gives us strength and wisdom, quickening our steps and assuring our safety.”
The sisters said those who spread lies about their alleged involvement with terrorist groups had made the poor poorer.
“Those who seek to besmirch our ministry, by saying it supported or financed ‘terrorism,’ should be held to account; their lies will only further the suffering and poverty in marginalized communities,” they said. – UCA News
