THE students of a theology school in Quezon City have recently coalesced with an antimining group around a fight against environment abuse during the antimining solidarity week.
Inter-Congregational Theological Center (ICTC) students assembled a prayer rally with the group Alyansa Tigil Mina (alliance to stop mining, or ATM) in front of Malate church on September 14.
The peaceful demonstration decried mining operators’ greed that went beyond the acceptable limitations, resulting in the abuse of natural resources and environment, loss of human lives and violations of human rights.
The ICTC students joined ATM in seeking justice for the deaths and human-rights violations related to mining, rehabilitation of over 800 mines, reclaimation of devastated lands and treatment of polluted waters.
They are calling for a law that will ensure protection, conservation and proper utilization of mineral resources.
According to an ATM statement for the antimining solidarity week, the Philippines is one of the countries worldwide that is rich in minerals. While foreign mining companies siphon the wealth of the Philippines from under the ground, its lands devastate, waters pollute and affected communities suffer from the negative impacts of mining operations, ICTC Students Association President Angel Ace Cortez said.
The school, which teaches theology to students from different congregations, has been involved in the pursuit for social justice since its establishment, Cortez, a member of the Order of Franciscan Minors Catholic religious congregation, said.
Conceptualized in 1986 at the annual meeting of the Association of Major Superiors in the Philippines, the school would teach theology in the context of the life and struggles of Filipino people.
In 1988, the school, which today is located in New Manila, Quezon City, begun existence in a solemn liturgical celebration at the Redemptorist Seminary in Antipolo City.
It was built as a means to achieve a dream for the church and a society seeking transformation.
The school’s first students were 13 Redemptorists and Carmelites.
The entry of Franciscans in the second year of ICTC increase the number of students, modules, pastoral areas and administrative works.
Today the ICTC theology students, about 50 in number, will intensify involvement in people’s fight against injustices, including climate abuse and human-rights violations, Cortez said.
The young and the old, men and women alike, admire them for walking the “talk of Church,” winning back somehow the faithful who are “lost,” Cortez explained.
Their coalition with ATM against destructive mining is sure to continue and strengthen in the days ahead, he added.
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