Katribu slams Marcos Jr on attacks against Indigenous Peoples as the nation marks IP month

October 14, 2025

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas strongly condemns the continuing and intensifying attacks on Indigenous Peoples as the nation celebrates Indigenous Peoples Month this October. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. once again exposes his hypocrisy: celebrating Indigenous heritage in words while waging war against Indigenous Peoples defending their ancestral lands and right to self-determination.

In Southern Tagalog, Indigenous Peoples stand their ground against escalating attacks as reports of militarization, bombings, harassment, and land-grabbing intensify. In response, Indigenous leaders, rights advocates, and civil society groups have launched an International Solidarity Mission (ISM) to investigate and expose the worsening human rights situation in the region. However, even as the mission proceeds, its delegates have been subjected to harassment and intimidation from military and state agents, constant surveillance and monitoring, from flying drones above their activity area to checkpoints and interrogations of the ISM teams and the Indigenous Peoples’ communities, raising grave concerns over the safety and freedom of human rights defenders on the ground.

In Sitio Malatabako, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, Mangyan-Iraya communities continue to suffer under a food blockade and legal harassment by Pieceland Corporation. Pieceland filed fabricated civil and criminal cases against the Mangyan-Iraya to force them off their ancestral land. Since October 2024, the entry of food and supplies into their village has been restricted by local authorities and company security, weaponizing hunger to displace them. 

In Tanay, Rizal, Dumagat families remain under constant harassment by the 80th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the same fascist unit responsible for the 2021 Bloody Sunday massacre that killed Dumagat victims Randy and Puroy Dela Cruz. The military has intensified its threats and interrogations of the communities, not only disrupting their livelihood but also making them relive the trauma of the massacre.

In Cordillera, communities continue to be targets of militarization and corporate greed. On September 28, 2025, elements of the 503rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, led by 1Lt. Lawrence Busway unlawfully entered the home of Indigenous woman leader Betty Belen in Uma Del Norte, Lubuagan, Kalinga. The soldiers had no warrant, and the next day returned to accuse her and her husband of being part of a so-called “NPA list.” In 2021, Betty was illegally detained after leading a barricade in opposition to a destructive geothermal project in Kalinga.

These incidents are part of a nationwide campaign of terror fueled by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and its deceptive Barangay Development Program (BDP). Billions of pesos in public funds are funneled into these programs not for genuine development, but to finance militarization, surveillance, and psywar operations in Indigenous territories. While corrupt officials enrich themselves, Indigenous Peoples are starved, displaced, and criminalized for defending their land.

In Itogon, Benguet, on October 1, 2025, security guards of Sangilo Mines, operated by Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc. (ISRI) under Apex Mining of the Razon group, violently attacked small-scale miners in Barangay Poblacion. Witnesses report that guards ransacked miners’ tunnels and brutally assaulted workers who refused to leave. Several miners sustained serious injuries. The attack, caught on video, shows the arrogance of corporate guards acting with impunity under state protection while Indigenous small miners are criminalized for defending their livelihood.

In Mankayan, Benguet, residents of Barangays Bulalacao and Guinaoang are barricading to block Crescent Mining and Development Corporation (CMDC) from drilling in their farmlands and watersheds. The Kankanaey community has long opposed the project, which violates their right to free, prior, and informed consent and threatens their food sources and homes.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which also marks its 28th year this October, remains inutile and complicit in these violations since its establishment. It serves corporate and military interests over the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, which it is mandated to uphold.

Katribu holds the Marcos Jr. regime, the AFP, the NTF-ELCAC, and the NCIP fully accountable for these continuing state-sponsored atrocities against Indigenous Peoples. We demand an end to militarization, red-tagging, and corporate land-grabbing. Abolish the NTF-ELCAC and rechannel the budget to genuine services to the people!

We also call on all Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and communities, advocates, and the Filipino people: stand with the defenders of the land! Resist state terror! Defend our rights to ancestral lands and self-determination! ###

Reference:

Beverly Longid

National Convener

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas