Alexa Melina M. Mora | September 18, 2018
MANILA, PHILIPPINES- Last September 10, the university welcomed our brothers and sisters from the Lumad communities in Mindanao to lend a helping hand in the fight for their right to education. The welcoming included reiteration of the situation in Mindanao and a ritual of partnership and solidarity between UST and the Lumad community.
The Lumads, together with the students mobilized through the school and to the grandstand as they were addressed by Rev. Fr. Pablo T. Tiong O.P. together with UST Simbahayan Community Development Director Asst. Prof. Mark Anthony Abenir, DSD and Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD.
The UST Sociological Society, together with other student organizations Save Our Schools Network and the Central Student Council, played a major role in ensuring assistance and support is provided for the Lumad community. The Lumads stayed in the Central Seminary Gym where different programs and activities took place. An AGAPE feast was shared between them and the seminarians together with UST’s Central Student Council (CSC) and Lumad Community Schools (LCS) members. On September 12, some senior students of Sociology spent a few hours of their day with our brothers and sisters to discuss the current situation of the Lumads. The Lumads were given the chance to tell their stories and why they are fighting for their right to education.
During the Lumads’ stay in the university, they were given hands-on computer trainings such as the use of Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. They also were able to tour the science laboratories of the university and the Miguel Benavides Library.
September 17 was the last day of the Lumads in the university. This was followed by a unity walk partaken by the Tomasian community which symbolized the expression of Tomasians to support the struggles of the Lumads in their quest for self-determination, liberation, and claim for their indigenous communities.
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