The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
Jesus Miracle Crusade celebrates 20th year in Zamboanga
DAVAO CITY - Villagers and human rights advocates and have staged a rally outside a military base in Davao City in southern Philippines and protested continued militarism in the countryside.
Members of the women’s group called Gabriela also joined the protest and accused the military of violating human rights of civilians, including indigenous people in the region.
Other human rights groups also accused security forces as behind extrajudicial killings of tribesmen tagged falsely tagged as supporters of communist rebels.
“Majority of the victims of state fascism are Lumads,” said Mary Ann Sapar, of Gabriela.
She said just recently a school for indigenous people - Fr. Fausto Tentorio Memorial School - run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation in Kitaotao town in Bukidnon province, was forcibly padlocked by village officials who were accompanied by army soldiers.
“Students and their teachers have suffered trauma from the closure of the school,” Sapar said.
Dozens of students were affected by the closure of the school. Soldiers accused the parents and relatives of students as either members or sympathizers of the New People’s Army rebels, an allegation strongly denied by the students and their teachers. ZAMBOANGA CITY – The energetic and soft-spoken Minister Wilde James Almeda has led the celebration of the 20th founding anniversary of the Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry or JMCIM in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.
Hundreds of JMCIM members flocked to the village of Divisoria to hear Minister Wilde James speak about the long historic and miraculous stories of faith and strong convictions of the influential and one of the Philippines’ biggest religious groups.
Minister Wilde James was also accompanied by Brother Danny Cuarteros and other prayer warriors in the celebration that was also attended by Zamboanga Mayor Beng Climaco and other local government officials.
Mayor Climaco, herself a religious woman, also met and spoke with Minister Wilde James and praised the JMCIM for its steadfast promotion of peace not only in Zamboanga City, but the entire country.
Minister Wilde James also thanked Mayor Climaco and her group for their strong support to the JMCIM.
Having been exposed to the crusades of JMCIM founded by his father Pastor Wilde Estrada Almeda, Minister Wilde James said he started young as a member of a band that went out to different areas in the country and played gospel music.
“I remember it was 20 years ago when we had our first crusade here in Zamboanga and I was 20 then. I grew up really sa crusade in the church, so we go everywhere in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. And now we have more than 1.5 million members in the country and it’s steadily growing and this is aside from memberships we have around the world,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
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