On IP, Moro HR Day, Panaghiusa calls to stop the attacks, hold corrupt officials accountable
- Panaghiusa Philippine Network
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
On Indigenous Peoples and Moro Human Rights Day, Panaghiusa reaffirms its call to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights. As the Indigenous Peoples call for justice for victims of enforced disappearance, illegal arrest and detention, and killings, Filipinos must also oppose the massive corruption under the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
December 8 was declared as the Indigenous Peoples and Moro Human Rights Day after the military killed Dumagat leader Nicanor "Ka Kano" Delos Santos on December 8, 2001. Ka Kano and his community strongly oppose the destructive Kaliwa-Kanan-Laiban dams in Rizal and Quezon.
Twenty-four years later, that injustice has only intensified under the Marcos-Duterte regime through militarization, forced displacements, political persecution, red-tagging, and corruption against the Indigenous Peoples and Moro.
Instead of defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples has been complicit in land-grabbing and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent violations. The commission allows the construction of large-scale destructive mining, energy, and dam projects in ancestral lands.
On the other hand, the disappearance of Bontok-Ibaloi-Kankanaey Dexter Capuyan and Indigenous Peoples’ rights advocate Bazoo de Jesus, the continued unjust detention of Dumagat Rocky Torres and Dandoy Avellaneda, and the killings Indigenous Peoples youth Elioterio Ugking, Kuni Cuba, and Jay-el Maligday, are also part of the state’s attacks against the Indigenous Peoples.
Amid human rights, land rights, and International Humanitarian Law violations by state security forces, corruption shadow Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte.
For decades, Indigenous Peoples and Moro communities have been systematically pushed to the margins, denied quality education and healthcare, left with unfinished road projects, and forced to migrate because livelihoods are destroyed. Corruption ensures that billions never reach the communities, barangays, barrios, and sitios they are meant for, while development projects that enrich the powerful trample the rights oft the Indigenous Peoples.
Moreover, Marcos Jr. claims "strategic defeat" of insurgency and yet the government continues to pour billions into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). ₱35 billion has already been allocated to AFP modernization in the 2025 national budget. Worse, the proposed defense budget for 2026 rises to a staggering ₱430.87 billion, including a ₱40-billion increase, diverting public funds from services to counter-insurgency.
These budgets do not fund “counter-insurgency” anymore. They sustain bombings in communities, military encampments near schools, harassment of civilians, and the relentless occupation of Moro and Indigenous territories. It turns ancestral lands and territories into war zones so corporations can enter with mining, dams, and plantations.
With all the attacks against the Indigenous Peoples and massive corruption under Marcos Jr. - Duterte regime, Panaghiusa reaffirms its calls:
Uphold Indigenous Peoples’ Rights!
Stop the Attacks against the Indigenous Peoples!
Surface All Desaparecidos!
Free All Political Prisoners!
Halt the Destructive Projects in Ancestral Lands!
Justice for Ka Kano and all the victims of state-perpetrated killings! Justice for all those disappeared, unjustly imprisoned, and silenced! Hold the perpetrators of human rights and International Humanitarian Law violations and corrupt officials accountable. #
Reference:
Rikki Mae Gono
National Coordinator
Panaghiusa Philippines Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples’ Rights