IDWIP 2025: The Call to Uphold IHL Grows Ever Stronger!

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (IDWIP), Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas joins Indigenous communities across the globe in asserting our rights, our dignity, and our future. In the Philippines, this is not just a day of celebration but also a day of protest.

As we commemorate this day, we shine a spotlight on the systematic violations of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), most of which happen in ancestral lands and peasant communities. From Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao, militarization and counterinsurgency have turned Indigenous territories into battlegrounds, where Indigenous Youth like Jay-el Maligday, Kuni Cuba, and Elioterio Ugking are killed; and land defenders like Rocky Torres and Dandoy Avellaneda are tortured and illegally arrested. Communities are ruled by the military through de facto martial law, as what has been found in the recent humanitarian missions in Mindoro. These are not isolated incidents. They are state policies, especially under Marcos Jr.’s administration.

“Militarization, bombings, and state repression are ongoing realities. These are done to silence resistance, to clear the way for extractive projects, and to control our territories,” said Beverly Longid, national convener of Katribu. “International Humanitarian Law seeks to protect civilians and uphold dignity during armed conflicts. Yet for Indigenous Peoples, violations of IHL are not confined to times of war.”

In line with the grave human rights situation of the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines, Katribu–with church, human rights, and people’s organizations–celebrated IDWIP 2025 through a forum that shed light on the IHL violations within Indigenous communities and denounced all forms of rights violations. Accountability was demanded for state-enforced killings, forced displacements, and bombings. In the words of the forum’s keynote speaker Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, “In many far-flung communities peace initiatives are often blocked by militarization. This is not just injustice–it is a spiritual wound.”

The forum also served as a venue for Indigenous activists and victims of rights violations to testify on their personal and communities’ experiences under both the Marcos Jr. administration as well as the past Rodrigo Duterte administration. Among the testifiers are Imelda Tabiando from Innabuyog-Gabriela who spoke on the judicial harassment that many Cordilleran activists face; Felipe Gelle who shared the continous oppression that peasants and Indigenous Peoples face in Negros; and Narcisa Dela Cruz who is mother to Randy Dela Cruz and aunt to Puroy Dela Cruz—who are victims in the Bloody Sunday Massacre in 2021. It is clear from their sharings that the situation on-ground is violent due to militarization, exploitation, and poverty. The IHL is continuously and consistently being violated by the state itself.

“Under the IHL, we have the right to take up arms against a state that is abusive, oppressive, and neglectful of our rights,” said Longid. “When Indigenous communities take up arms, it is not out of hate. It is an act of survival. It is a response to systemic injustice—not a cause of it.”

The forum ended with a call to action by Ka Danilo “Daning” Ramos, a peasant leader, and Jonila Castro, an environmental defender. On their lead, the participants and Indigenous Peoples called to continue the struggle for justice and peace. IDWIP 2025 was marked as a day to not only assert the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but also the core principles of International Humanitarian Law. The struggle of Indigenous Peoples is the struggle of all peoples. Katribu calls on fellow Filipinos, the Moro people, and international allies to unite in defense of human rights, of IHL, and of our right to self-determination.

Uphold the International Humanitarian Law!

Lupang ninuno, depensahan, ipaglaban!

Reference:

Beverly Longid, national convener