Panaghiusa calls to release arrested Dupax barricade defenders, resist judicial repression, harassment

[TAGALOG] Panaghiusa nananawagang palayain ang mga inarestong tagapagtanggol ng barikada sa Dupax, labanan ang hudisyal na panunupil, panggigipit

As of 1:56 PM today, January 23, 2026, six Indigenous Women and defenders of the people’s barricade in Keon, Bitnong, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya have been arrested by the Philippine National Police under the authority of a court order issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 30. Four of them were brought to the police station, while the other two who were in the hospital were likewise declared under arrest by the police.

This act of repression is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic campaign to silence Indigenous Peoples, farmers, and residents who are defending their land against large-scale destructive projects.

Photo from Altermidya.

Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples’ Rights condemns this judicial and police assault in the strongest terms. The barricade in Dupax del Norte is a legitimate and necessary act of defense. It is a collective stand against mining exploration by Woggle Mining Corporation that threatens to displace communities, destroy ecosystems, and erase Indigenous knowledge and systems. The barricade is a living assertion of sovereignty, a grassroots exercise of democracy, and a powerful reminder that the people themselves are the rightful stewards of their land.

The court’s order authorizing warrantless arrests and criminal proceedings against those who resist reveals the deep collusion between state institutions and corporate interests. By framing community defense as obstruction and resistance as disorder, the judiciary and police attempt to delegitimize the people’s struggle and reduce their courage to mere defiance of authority. Yet what truly undermines public peace is not the barricade. It is the violations of people’s rights, the forcible displacement of communities, the silencing of dissent, and the imposition of projects that communities have never consented to. What brings the judiciary into disrepute is its own complicity in land-grabbing and militarized enforcement.

The barricade in Dupax del Norte is part of a long struggle of the Indigenous Peoples and peasants’ across the Philippines. It is an act rooted in the right to free, prior, and informed consent, in the constitutional guarantee of ancestral land rights, and in the internationally recognized right to self-determination. To criminalize such actions is to criminalize the defense of life itself. To arrest defenders is to arrest the future of communities who refuse to be sacrificed for profit.

Panaghiusa stands firmly with the people of Dupax del Norte. We affirm that their barricade is a legitimate, courageous, and necessary act of collective defense. We call for the immediate release of those arrested, the cessation of harassment and intimidation against the community, and the recognition of the people’s right to resist destructive projects that threaten their survival.

We call on all sectors and institutions to stand in solidarity with the residents of Dupax del Norte, to resist judicial repression, and to uphold the dignity and sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples and farmers across the Philippines. The people’s barricade is a legitimate assertion of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to ancestral lands and self-determination and a defense of land, life, and future generations. #

Reference:

Rikki Mae Gono

National Coordinator

Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights