The crucifix and images of Our Lady and Christ were destroyed while consecrated hosts were thrown on the floor. Read more

Sr Stella Matutina is this year's recipient of the Weimar Award for Human Rights.

The Benedictine nun will receive 2,500 euros [US$2,730], which she said will help support the advocacy of her organisation.

She is secretary-general of the environment protection group Panalipdan, as well as being chairwoman of the Sisters Association of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

Sr Matutina, 47, told ucanews.com that her award "highlights the situation of Mindanao and the Philippines in general where the poor, the farmers, the indigenous peoples, the human rights activists and defenders of the environment endure harassment and face risks and death".

Sr Matutina has been a vocal opponent of attempts to convert the farmlands in Mindanao to plantation crops like palm oil, pineapples, and bananas.

She has also led a campaign against the entry of large-scale mining companies in tribal communities in Mindanao.

In 2012, the Philippine military labeled Matutina a "fake nun" and accused her of being a communist New People's Army guerrilla.

In 2009, soldiers detained Sr Matutina and two other anti-mining activists in Cateel in Mindanao for giving a lecture on environmental awareness to residents of an upland village.

Early this year, authorities charged Sr Matutina, other Church leaders and human rights activists with kidnapping, human trafficking, and illegal detention for taking care of displaced tribal people in the provinces of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon.

"These are proof that helping the oppressed, the poor, the abused comes with great risks," said Sr Matutina.

The nun, who comes from a poor family in Mindanao, said her heart "will always be for the poor and the victims of abuses".

"My life will always be dedicated to them," she said.

Sources

• ucanews.com
• Image: ucanews.com

Father Michael Ufana was taken hostage when the rebels attacked five villages in the city on Monday.

The MNLF still has more than 100 other hostages including the priest's father and sister.

Monsignor Crisologo Manongas, administrator of Zamboanga archdiocese, said Ufana was released "to deliver the demands of the armed group that are still holding the rest of the hostages."

One of the demands is safe passage out of Zamboanga for the rebels, according to a security source.

Ufana's release came hours before President Benigno Aquino arrived in Zamboanga City to personally view the situation.

The president's visit came amid reports that some members of the MNLF were planning to surrender. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, however, denied the reports, adding that negotiations are still ongoing.

Civil society and human rights groups have called on both sides to immediately declare a ceasefire and "delineate a humanitarian corridor where civilians and injured combatants may be safely assisted."

The groups also called on the Organization of Islamic Conference to help resolve the conflict in Zamboanga and "sustain the role they have long-fulfilled in ensuring the hopes for peace in Mindanao."

Source

UCA News

Image: UCA News

Benedictine Sister Stella Matutina works in Mindanao, the most conflictive island in the southern Philippines. Now 44, she spent 18 years studying and performing pastoral work in Europe before returning to Mindanao in 2007, when she says she quickly realised an environmental crisis was at hand.

Continue reading