Stand with the Ayta People! Stand with the Mt. Pinatubo barricade!

The Ayta Indigenous People of Sityo Tarukan, Brgy. Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac have raised serious and legitimate concerns in recent days: tourism in Mt. Pinatubo has long operated at their expense—profiting off their land, culture, and presence without fair compensation or consent. For years, various tour operators have built a flourishing tourism industry on Ayta ancestral land, generating profit while the very people who have safeguarded these lands for generations receive little to nothing in return.

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas stands firmly with the Ayta communities of Mt. Pinatubo who have launched a barricade to assert their right to their land. It is well within their right to resist this injustice, protect their ancestral domain from further exploitation, and reclaim agency over how their culture and land are treated.

Just as we condemn the violence and harassment faced by the Molbog, Palaw’an, and Cagayanen communities in Mariahangin, Bugsuk—who were subjected to militarized intimidation by over 80 armed guards deployed by a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC)—we likewise denounce the systemic abuse of the Ayta in Mt. Pinatubo. In both situations, tourism and so-called development are weaponized as tools of displacement and marginalization—not progress. In other parts of the Philippines, unchecked and unregulated tourism also leads to the commodification of Indigenous culture. While Indigenous Peoples are being treated as props, they are systematically excluded from decision-making in the tourist industry and profit-sharing.

Tourism in Mt. Pinatubo continues to operate without genuine Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC); without cultural sensitivity; and most critically, without just compensation or benefits for the Ayta communities. This is enabled not only by private profiteers but by the negligence and complicity of state actors. These issues further reveal the inutility and betrayal by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which, despite clear appeals from affected Indigenous communities, remains silent and enables these violations through inaction.

It is time to rethink tourism policies across the country and reject models that exploit Indigenous Peoples and lands under the guise of sustainability and economic growth. Projects like the SMC-backed tourism in Bugsuk show how so-called ecotourism often leads to displacement and exclusion and not community benefit. This is not green development but corporate land grabbing. Across the country, similar ventures commodify Indigenous lands and cultures while excluding communities from decision-making and profit-sharing. We must shift toward tourism that respects Indigenous autonomy, upholds Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and ensures benefits go directly to the communities that have long cared for these lands.

With the Midterm Elections approaching, let us vote for candidates who will shift the focus from commercialization and corporate gain to a model that centers Indigenous rights, fosters genuine cultural appreciation, and contributes to community well-being. We must spurn candidates who have long contributed to the exploitation and destruction of Indigenous lands through their businesses, policies, and stances, such as the Villars, Apollo Quiboloy, and Allen Capuyan.

Katribu calls on all tourists and the broader public: respect the barricade. Do not patronize tour operators who profit from unpaid Indigenous labor. Stand with the Ayta and Stand with Bugsuk. Listen to the voices of the communities who have long stewarded these lands before tourism ever arrived.