“The latest incarceration of Pelayo, a vocal advocate for ancestral land and water rights, is yet another example of legal tactics weaponized to suppress the community’s resistance."
Residents said that the private blue guards are deployed by the JMV Security Services again, the same agency that deployed 80 armed private blue guards in their community on April 4.
Most of the arrested residents are known leaders who are actively speaking and campaigning against the entry of a private corporation in their island.
What they stand to lose is far more than copper and gold. It is everything they call home.
A Mindanao anthropologist said that it is “ridiculous and preposterous” to say that Kamigin Indigenous People do not exist.
“Large-scale mining and energy projects are being rebranded as ‘green solutions.’ But the cost is high: massive excavation, deforestation, and the displacement of communities. These projects worsen landlessness and threaten food security."
At the 41st People’s Cordillera Day, the call to surface Dexter and Bazoo resounded through poetry, song, and collective memory—a call carried by loved ones and communities determined to bring them home.
“For years, various tour operators have built a flourishing tourism industry on Ayta ancestral land, generating profit while the very people who have safeguarded these lands for generations receive little to nothing in return,” Katribu said in a statement.
For the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines, this report is not just documentation—it’s a renewed call for justice, accountability, and survival.
“Deploying armed men in Indigenous communities to enforce displacement and make way for big business interests has no place in a democratic society.”
"Our community was once full of life, peaceful, but now we are being harassed by corporations trying to claim our land. We do not even know where they supposedly bought our land from. We just want a peaceful life."
“I find Michelle as one of the brilliant and intelligent Lumad students of Alcadev. Like many indigenous youth who received education from this alternative learning institution, they have a stark characteristic: they are empowered enough to live and assert the indigenous peoples’ right to self determination.”
A notable finding from the report is the confirmation of the identities of three other individuals who have been under strict military custody in the hospital, together with Lumad leader Michelle Campos: Aldren Baguio, Jun Rey Tejero Misoles, and Rovelyn Acevido. The three have been arrested without warrants, while Campos was served a warrant of arrest five days after (March 11) her arrest.
“We condemn the military’s ploys and urge them to uphold transparency in accordance with Republic Act No. 10353—especially if they have nothing to hide,” the fact-finding team stated.
Not long after the first reported aerial strafing in the province of Oriental Mindoro, another case was reported on March 1 by a human rights group, endangering farmers and Mangyan-Hanunuo indigenous peoples.
Asian indigenous peoples and advocates from Indonesia, India, Tripura, Bangladesh, Nepal, Denmark, and Australia express their solidarity with the Mangyan indigenous peoples in Mindoro and join the call to uphold Mangyan rights to ancestral lands and self determination, to stop the militarization, and uphold the International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
Human rights groups expressed alarm on reports of aerial strafing in indigenous peoples communities in Pola, Oriental Mindoro.
“What happened on Nov. 20 and Dec. 4? Women were almost stripped naked. And just this January 31, 2025, SMC staff and the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative of Balabac, along with NCIP staff, stormed in,” Angelica Nasiron, a Molbog resident, said.“What happened on Nov. 20 and Dec. 4? Women were almost stripped naked. And just this January 31, 2025, SMC staff and the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative of Balabac, along with NCIP staff, stormed in,” Angelica Nasiron, a Molbog resident, said.
Nearly 20 years in the making, their application for CADT remains uncertain. Current Molbog indigenous leaders said that ten of their elders have already died waiting in vain.
“Although Tatay Pepe was able to identify that the remains in Dimatulac Funeral Homes were his daughter’s, both the Roxas police and 4th IBPA are making things hard on him for no discernible reason,” human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog said in a statement. “They are miring Tatay Pepe through documents and bureaucracy, despite the law clearly stating what considerations and rights should be given to indigenous people.”
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