Fighting for the rights we basically deserve should never be an option in the first place. Children are our investment for a better future and we must nurture them with good teachings and practical learning. These children are brought into this world without knowing what kind of environment will they be raised in. They did not choose who their parents will be and which community should they belong to. But as a citizen who has enough knowledge and compassion to his co-human being, it will be our decision if we choose to harm these people.
Childhood is the stage where kids get to live carefree without having matured problems at hand. It is also the stage where these children are very vulnerable. The child in the illustration is colorless as it reflects his life living in this colorful community. Colorless because he witnessed the brutally destruction of his foundation of development. Colorless equates to emptiness. One thing that could help fill him up is the restoration of peace in his environment.
It is where they are destined - in Lumad community. We have no rights in forcing them to leave on where they are living just for the sake of our selfish desires. We have no rights in taking away their needs for the sake of our wants. The opposite of love is indifference, indeed. We may both differ from our way of living but it is never right to belittle the marginalized. Education deserves to be served to ALL.
Let us be thankful for the volunteers and the people who protects the community at all cost. There is no time to waste in rebuilding the childhood they once lost. Listen to what their hearts are shouting and help them to heal the wounds they are enduring. I stand with the Lumad. #StopTheKillings
