Marcos-Duterte, Patalsikin! Korap, Pahirap sa Moro at Katutubo!

December 8, 2025

December 8 is Indigenous Peoples and Moro Human Rights Day. On this day, we honor the life and legacy of Dumagat leader Nicanor “Ka Kano” delos Santos, who was assassinated in 2001 under the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration. Ka Kano was a steadfast defender of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, resisting the incursion of destructive projects such as the Kaliwa Dam along the Sierra Madre. His courage became a symbol of the relentless struggle to protect ancestral lands, life, and self-determination.

More than twenty years have passed, and justice for Ka Kano remains elusive. But countless Indigenous rights defenders have taken the same path: standing against large dams, mining, and energy projects, coupled with intensified militarization and bombings. For this courage, Indigenous Peoples have been subjected to harassment, red-tagging and terror-labelling, illegal arrests and detention, abduction and enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. State forces continue to shield perpetrators and enable violence against communities who dare resist “development”.

Until today, we search for Indigenous rights defenders Dexter Capuyan, Bazoo de Jesus, Felix Salaveria Jr., and all other desaparecidos. Until today, we demand the release of Dumagat political prisoners Rocky Torres and Dandoy Avellaneda, and advocates Emilio Gabales III and Aldeem Yañez, detained based on trumped-up charges meant to silence dissent. Until today, we call for the junking of terror laws and reversal of terrorist-designations of Indigenous leaders and advocates. Until today, we continue to demand justice for the victims of the Lianga and Tumandok massacres, whose communities were targeted for opposing destructive state and corporate interests.

The destructive projects Ka Kano fought against persist not only in the Sierra Madre, but also across the Cordillera, Panay, and Mindanao. Backed by government agencies, such as the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, these projects thrive on deception and force. Fraudulent free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) processes remain a tool to legitimize plunder, while “development” programs tied to counterinsurgency expose Indigenous communities to intensified militarization, surveillance, and coercion.

As we commemorate this day, we not only remember Ka Kano and the many Indigenous and Moro defenders who bravely stood against injustice, we also confront the continuing climate of impunity under the Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte administration. Marcos and Duterte, as the top officials of the country and key figures complicit in systemic corruption, should not be shielded from prosecution. Holding them to account is not simply about jailing them too, but about recognizing their central role in enabling and benefiting from the very abuses they now refuse to address. “Lahat ng sangkot, dapat managot” must be applied without exception.

Plunder, militarization, and corruption are the hallmarks of an administration that continues to fail the people. Indigenous Peoples and Moro communities will not remain silent in the face of these attacks.

We amplify our call: MARCOS-DUTERTE, PATALSIKIN! Korap, Pahirap sa Moro at Katutubo!

Reference:

Beverly Longid

National Convener, Katribu