From father to son: Marcos Jr. remains a puppet, fascist, and burden to Indigenous Peoples!

On the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, Indigenous Peoples remember that the Marcos Sr. dictatorship was built on the plunder of our lands and resources, the suppression of our rights, and the violent imposition of so-called “development” at the expense of our communities.

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Under Marcos Sr., Indigenous Peoples faced massive projects such as the Chico River Dam and Laiban Dam, as well as large-scale logging concessions and other projects that threatened to displace us from our ancestral lands. These projects were imposed in the name of “development,” while our communities bore the cost. When we resisted, the response of the state was militarization, violence, and the suppression of our mass movement to stop these destructive projects.

Fifty-four years later, under Marcos Jr., nothing has changed. The names and forms of the projects may have changed, but the interests behind them remain the same. Today, Indigenous Peoples continue to face the aggressive entry of mining projects, destructive energy projects, and the US-led Pax Silica Initiative.

Once again, the government packages these projects as development, but we know what lies behind these promises. No amount of disguising can hide the fact that projects such as Pax Silica threaten to take away ancestral lands, livelihoods, and the future of Indigenous communities.

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In Central Luzon the development of different renewable energy projects and the push for the Pax Silica Initiative threaten the ancestral lands and livelihoods of Ayta communities. In Cordillera, Indigenous Peoples face the manipulation of the FPIC to increase mining and dam projects that encroach ancestral lands. In Southern Tagalog, ecotourism and real estate push the Mangyan out of their own lands. In Panay, the Tumandok struggle against destructive dams being built on their rivers. 

With Marcos Jr.’s energy plan and the signing of the EO 122, projects will continue to encroach ancestral lands. The push for critical minerals will intensify the plunder already being experienced by Indigenous communities across the Philippines. The communities of Nueva Vizcaya and the Cordillera continue to face mining interests targeting copper and other minerals, while communities in Zambales and Mindanao face the expansion of nickel mining. These minerals are increasingly treated as strategic resources for global supply chains, yet the lands where they are found are often the very ancestral territories of Indigenous Peoples.

Energy projects are being branded as “clean” and “just,” but the reality on the ground is that these projects enter without consent, without transparency, and bring about environmental destruction and human rights violations.

The government’s response to Indigenous Peoples fighting against these projects is also the same: through fascist means. Leaders are being designated as terrorists and arrested for trumped-up charges, while the real perpetrators of rights violations such as the PNP and AFP remain immune. Community members are being killed, the land itself is bombed.

And our suffering is made worse by a government that is not only repressive, but corrupt. Billions in public funds are poured into government agencies that are supposed to serve Indigenous Peoples, yet this is nowhere reflected in the worsening conditions of our communities. While officials and agencies receive billions, Indigenous communities continue to confront land grabbing, militarization, displacement, poverty, and the destruction of our sources of livelihood.

The burden of Indigenous Peoples is doubled. But so does our resistance.

Fifty-four years after Martial Law, we remember the Indigenous Peoples and other Filipinos who stood against the Marcos dictatorship and paid the highest price for defending their rights and their communities. We remember Macli-ing Dulag and the countless Indigenous Peoples who resisted the Chico River Dam. We remember that the victories of Indigenous resistance were never handed down by the state. They were won through collective struggle, which we continue until now. 

The Indigenous Peoples will not surrender our ancestral lands for so-called development. We will not allow our territories to become sacrifice zones for foreign interests and corporate profit. We will continue to defend our lands, our livelihoods, our cultures, and our right to determine our own future.

Reference: Funa-ay Claver, Secretary-General