IP Groups Welcome Resolution to Investigate NMIP Killings, Urge New Senate to Address Land Conflict

(TAGALOG) Tinatanggap ng mga Grupo ng mga Katutubo ang Resolusyon ng Senado sa Imbestigasyon ng Pagpatay sa NMIP; Hinihimok din ang Bagong Senado na Harapin ang mga Isyu sa Lupa

Panaghiusa Philippine Network welcomes the Senate resolution to investigate the killings of Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIP) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). For years, NMIPs have suffered systemic attacks with no accountability, and Panaghiusa demands immediate action to address these injustices.

Photo courtesy of Timuay Justice and Governance

From 2014 to 2024, 84 NMIPs have been killed, including 12 leaders, seven youth, and seven women. Despite the alarming death toll, no perpetrators have been brought to justice. Families of the victims face barriers such as threats to their lives, lack of resources, and distrust in the justice system, which prevent them from filing cases.

“Enough is enough. Until now, not a single perpetrator has been held accountable. The killings of NMIPs must end, and we call on the new Senate to immediately address the continued escalation and impunity surrounding these killings and attacks,” asserted Leticio Datuwata, supreme leader of Timuay Justice and Governance, and National Coordinating Committee member of Panaghiusa Philippine Network.

NMIPs report major challenges to investigations, including retaliation fears, bias against Indigenous Peoples, and cases stalling due to unidentified perpetrators. Witnesses and families also face continuing threats, with their requests for witness protection repeatedly rejected. Police reports remain inaccessible due to overly broad interpretations of the data privacy act, further obstructing their pursuit of justice.

“The conflict in our region will not end unless its root cause is addressed. Majority of the killings stem from land disputes. To end the violence, the government must recognize and protect our rights to ancestral domain and self-determination,” Leticio Datuwata emphasized.

Thousands of NMIPs remain displaced as violence and ancestral domain issues persist. Despite completing all groundwork for their ancestral domain claims, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority’s (BTA) 2019 resolution halted the process. NCIP officials confirmed that deliberation was imminent before the intervention.

The Teduray-Lambangian's ancestral domain claim spans 208,258 hectares across Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, and 14,000 hectares of waters.

Panaghiusa Philippine Network calls on the government to immediately fulfill the following:

Ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations of all NMIP killings;

• Protect the individuals, families, communities, and witnesses under threat;

• Facilitate the return of internally-displaced NMIPs to their home communities;

• Provide legal, paralegal, and financial support for affected families and displaced tribe members; and

• Implement sufficient preventive measures to put an end to killings, harassment, intimidation, reprisals, and other forms of violence against NMIPs;

• Recognize and protect NMIPs' rights to ancestral domain and self-determination, including the implementation of a genuine NMIP Code.

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