Save Our Schools and Lumad children commemorated on October 17 the 14th death anniversary of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, or Fr. Pops in Cotabato Lumad communities.

Fr. Pops was an Italian missionary who served the Lumad and farmers for 34 years until Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) paramilitary forces killed him on October 17, 2011 in Arakan, North Cotabato. He was known as an environment and Lumad rights defender. He and the communities he served built 80 daycare centers in remote areas, launched literacy and numeracy programs, and established scholarship programs that provided education to as many as 3,000 students.

He also joined numerous medical missions and helped train many community health workers to serve their communities. He resolutely stood against mining and logging projects and actively supported programs promoting sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and biodiversity.

“Fourteen years later, justice remains elusive,” SOS stated. Identified as Alamada Integrated Development Foundation (ALIF) members, the perpetrators have not been held accountable. Meanwhile, Lumad and farming communities continue to suffer hamletting, forced surrender, Red-tagging, fabricated charges, and other human rights violations. Intense militarization and “communist” branding forcibly closed the schools that bore Fr. Pops’ legacy.

“Despite this, Fr. Pops’ legacy endures,” the group said. “The children he once gathered have become full-time organizers and activists, stepping into the frontlines of the people’s movement,” it added.

The scholars recalled what Fr. Pops once said about the importance of striving to provide knowledge and education to children. “These young people, no matter how young, are clearly the true future of the tribe. In the end, they are the ones the tribe can rely on,” Fr. Pops believed.

“The youth will continue the fight for ancestral land and environmental defense with the same courage and conviction he instilled in them,” the group stated.

Fr. Pops’ scholars postponed their planned October 17 concert called “Living and Dying” to November 15 because of the Davao region earthquakes.