National Minorities Join Independence Day Protest, Denounce US Imperialist Control and Ancestral Land Plunder

On the 128th year commemoration of Philippine Independence, KATRIBU and other organizations of national minorities and advocates joined the June 12 mobilization in Manila, denouncing the Philippine government's deepening subservience to US interests through military agreements, foreign-driven economic projects, and policies that facilitate the exploitation of the country's natural resources.

The groups underscored the urgent need to assert genuine national sovereignty and self-determination amid the expanding US presence in the country through EDCA sites and projects such as the Pax Silica initiative.

KATRIBU particularly highlighted the proposed Pax Silica weapons manufacturing hub within the US-backed Luzon Economic Corridor, warning that it would further open Philippine lands and resources to foreign interests while tying the country to US military objectives in the region.

The group stressed that projects like Pax Silica continue a long history of resource extraction in Indigenous territories, enabled by policies and laws that allow large-scale foreign corporations to operate in ancestral lands, resulting in land grabbing, displacement, militarization, and environmental destruction.

“Walang tunay na kalayaan hangga't pinahihintulutan ng ating estado ang mga US bases at US troops sa bansa, at patuloy na ginagamit ng Imperyalistang US ang ating mga lupang ninuno para sa kanilang paglunsad ng mga gerang agresyon,” said Funa-ay Claver, Secretary General of KATRIBU.

KATRIBU emphasized that the right to self-determination of national minorities is inseparable from the Filipino people's struggle for genuine freedom. For Indigenous Peoples, genuine independence means defending ancestral lands from plunder, ending foreign control over the country's resources and policies, and advancing the collective struggle for national liberation.