RUN FOR LUMADS 2016 DOCUMENTATION REPORT

RUN FOR LUMADS 2016 DOCUMENTATION REPORT

Last September, the Christian Youth Fellowship celebrated its active role as a youth in church and in our community.  Aside from the normal activities being conducted during Youth Celebration such as, but not limited to; bible studies, fellowships and praise  nights, the CYF also boldly took a step in lobbying one of the pressing issues in our societies that caught not just the Mindanao to be alarmed but as well as the whole Philippines.  The issue of human rights violations to our Indigenous Peoples in  Mindanao has truly something that our church including the CYF  has to act upon.

Thus, September 17, 2016 was marked as one of the special day wherein majority of the Christian Youth Fellowship members from different jurisdictions and conferences raised their voices, stretched their arms and run for the cause of our Lumad brothers and sisters.  This activity which is called, “RUN FOR LUMADS” has made possible the raising of awareness, unity and commitment to support the Indigenous Peoples.  They are the forerunners of environmental preservation who are victims of militarisation and human rights violations brought about by the entrance of so-called developmental projects in their ancestral lands.

Roughly 2000 individuals participated in the RUN FOR LUMADS, who came not just from CYF but as well as from different organisations of our church; church workers, women and men.  We were also able to mobilise and invite other denominations, community members, and organisations and even indigenous peoples.  Through engaging these different groups, we were able to widen our campaign which also landed to various media stations including local TV and radio stations.  Aside from levelling up awareness, we were also able to raise funds to support Lumads who went back to their homes but found their livelihood destroyed by the militaries and also to aid for the schooling of lumad children.  Attached herewith is the summary of details regarding delegation and funds raised by different conferences.

Conference Jurisdiction	Date	Venue	No. of Participants	Partner Organisations	Funds Raised
Southeast Mindanao Jurisdiction
Surigao Dinagat District Conference	September 17, 2016	Surigao city and Tandag City	150 Participants		35,000.00
Agusan District Conference (ADC)	September 17, 2016	Libertad Sports Complez, Km. 4, Brgy. Libertad, Butuan City	360 Participants		30,000.00
Northeastern Davao District Conference (NDDC) and Southern Mindanao District Conference (SMDC)	September 17, 2016	Davao City	80 Participants including Lumads		2,000.00
South Cotabato-Saranggani District Conference (SCSDC)	September 17, 2016	General Santos City
Cotabato Annual Conference	September 17, 2016	Kidapawan City
Northwest Mindanao Jurisdiction
District Conference of Southern Zamboanga (DCSZ)	September 17, 2016	Ecumenical Center Church, Zamboanga City	100 participants
District Conference of Northern Mindanao (DCNM)	September 17, 2016	People’s Park Oroqueta City, Misamis Occidental	140 delegates	UCCP Mission Climb, Baktas Outdoor, I RUN, I Run for Lumad
West Visayas Jurisdictional Area
Central Negros Associate Conference (CNAC)	September 17, 2016	UCCP Central Church Mabinay	100 Participants
North Luzon Jurisdiction
North Highland Associate Conference (NHAC)	September 17, 2016
South Luzon Jurisdiction
Palawan Associate Conference (PAC)	September 17, 2016	Dumanguena, Buong, Palawan	70 UCCP and IPs		1500
Occidental Mindoro Associate Conference (OMAC)	September 17, 2016	Town Plaza, Ibud Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro	100 Participants		4000
Oriental Mindoro Conference (OMC)	September 17, 2016	Macatoc, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro	80 Participants		1500
Northeast Southern Tagalog Conference (NESTCON), Batangas Associate Conference (BAC) and Upland Cavite Conference (UCC)	October 1, 2016	UPLB Freedom Park, Los Baños, Laguna	390 Participants	ALL UP  Academic Employees Union, UPLB Student Council, Youth Advocates for Peace with Justice	45,000
Southern Tagalog Conference (STC)	October 2, 2016	Magill, Lucena City, Quezon	32 Participants		5000
South Bicol Conference (SBC)	October 26, 2016	Sto. Domingo,	75 participants

CYF RUN FOR LUMADS

#CYFrunforLUMADS 

Isaiah 58:6-7, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

#CYFRunforLUMADS

For the past decades, our Indigenous brothers and sisters continue to experience the social, economic and cultural discrimination.  While they continue to cultivate and protect the remaining pieces of land, left for them by different local and foreign exploiters, they are also the ones who lament for self-determination, land being taken away and for lives not spared by the exercise of military power to protect the owner of should-be-developmental projects.  These scenarios are not different from the situation of Lumads in Mindanao who are still shouting for unserved justice for those Lumads who were killed, for the interruption of classes in Alternative Learning Center and Development Inc., for almost a year away from their ancestral lands and for a lot of human rights violations they have experienced.

The youth as seen to be the arm of our church and of our society, that can create a voice in lobbying different issues of our society especially the struggles of the Lumads, still needs to be mobilized in response to the command of Christ in upholding and protecting the dignity of humanity.

Since the CYF believes that the Celebration of Youth Sunday is also a celebration of Youth’s vital role in our church and in our society, the CYF will conduct a RUN FOR LUMADS activity on September 17, 2016.  It is in solidarity with the struggling sectors of our society especially the Lumads. This will be a nationwide CYF campaign that will foster the spirit of unity among groups and individuals in working towards a common cause – justice for Lumad victims.  It will also highlight the role of the youth in unshackling the chains of apathy and disbelief or sense of helplessness that we can’t make a stand as a youth in transforming our society.  It will invite groups and individuals who share the same stand regarding the killings of Lumad.  This activity will be a synchronized run for a cause that will mobilize CYF member in all jurisdictions.  For inquiries, kindly contact your CYF jurisdictional presidents.