Solidarity Message

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United Church of Canada Solidarity Message presented by Nicole Smith for the 24th annual Cordillera Day in Licuan-Baay, Abra.

The theme of the 24th annual Cordillera Day was "Resist Mining Plunder and State Terrorism."

I am living in the Philippines for a year as a United Church of Canada intern, and hope that I can be a symbol of the commitment the UCC has to this country and its peoples' struggles. The United Church of Canada has worked with church and peoples' organizations in the Cordillera for many years. We are shocked and pained each time we hear that another member of these organizations has been assassinated, disappeared, illegally arrested, tortured or harassed. We mourn with you for your sisters and brothers who are killed for speaking and acting against the unjust and oppressive structures that lie at the root of the lack of peace in the country.

This is the second time I have visited the municipality of Licuan-Baay. I have made friends with the youth, am teased by the fathers and taken care of by the mothers. While I am in Licuan-Baay I forget how far away I am from my own home and family, because here I feel like I am home and am with family.

What Olympus is trying to do to this community is morally and legally wrong. What they are doing now, exploring without consent and using the Philippine Army to intimidate the community members and leaders, would not happen in Canada. What they are about to do, the destruction of your land, the pollution of your rivers and the violence against your people, would not happen in Canada. Canadians would never let Olympus operate in these ways because we have laws that say it is wrong to do these things. If it is wrong in Canada, if it is legally and morally wrong in Canada, then it is wrong in Licuan-Baay, too.

You have challenged the UCC to name our complicity in the actions of Canadian companies abroad. You have challenged me with your strength and your courage as a community to join in your struggle.Olympus is Canadian, but the United Church of Canada and I stand with the people of Licuan-Baay and the peoples of the Cordillera.

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