Panaghiusa raises alarm over state attacks vs. Int’l Solidarity Mission; calls to uphold human rights, IHL

[TAGALOG] Panaghiusa kinokondena ang mga atake ng estado laban sa Int’l Solidarity Mission; nanawagan na igalang ang karapatan ng mamamayan, IHL

The Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights expresses grave concern and strong condemnation over the escalating threats, harassment, and intimidation being carried out by state security forces against the ongoing International Solidarity Mission (ISM) in Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, and Eastern Visayas. These attacks are deliberate attempts to suppress truth, silence resistance, and obstruct the documentation of grave injustices committed against the Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities.

Now on its third day, the ISM has mobilized delegates from local mass leaders and international allies to witness firsthand the impacts of land grabbing, environmental plunder, and militarization in rural communities. These are Indigenous communities where violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are rampant and systematic.

From the first day of the ISM, the teams have been subjected to surveillance, intimidation, and harassment. Military deployment has intensified in Abra de Ilog, Mindoro, and Tanay, Rizal, with the 76th and 80th Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army stationed dangerously close to ISM venues. Reports include drone surveillance, checkpoints, forced disclosure of participant identities, and barangay officials acting in concert with military agents, tactics aimed to sow fear and disrupt the mission.

We denounce the role of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in orchestrating these attacks, which are part of a broader campaign to suppress community resistance against destructive projects. People continue to oppose the Kaliwa-Kanan-Laiban Dam projects threatening the Dumagat-Remontado in Rizal, palm oil and solar farm land grabs in Negros, the Abra de Ilog Wind Project, and the criminalization of Mangyan-Iraya communities in Mindoro, and the Cancabato Bay Causeway Project in Tacloban, pushed by political elites and corporate interests, endangering fisherfolk communities.

These projects are marred by corruption, forced displacement, and militarization. These are clear violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and IHL, including hamletting, food blockades, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.

We call on the Philippine government to immediately halt all forms of harassment and militarization targeting ISM participants and Indigenous Peoples’ communities. We also urge international human rights bodies to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for these violations. Civil society, media, and global solidarity networks should also amplify the voices of affected communities and expose the collusion between state forces and corporate interests.

Panaghiusa stands in unwavering solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities. We will continue to resist repression, expose injustice, and uphold the rights of the Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands and self-determination. #

Reference:

Rikki Mae Gono

National Coordinator

Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights