The Crimes of Rodrigo Duterte Against the Moro and Indigenous Peoples

Today is March 28, Rodrigo Duterte’s birthday and we mark this day not with greetings but with remembrance and protest. We refuse to let the day pass without reminding Duterte, his blind followers, and his loyal minions of the blood on his hands. His legacy is not one of peace or progress but of massacres, bombings, land grabs, and systemic repression—crimes that have terrorized and displaced generations of Moro and Indigenous Peoples.

We remember the many crimes of Duterte, particularly:

1. Marawi Bombings

The Duterte administration’s 2017 bombing of Marawi left the city and its people in ruins. Nearly half a million Maranaw were forced to flee, seeking refuge from relentless airstrikes that destroyed homes, mosques, and livelihoods. Hundreds were killed, and many remain missing to this day. Those who survived found themselves crammed into overcrowded evacuation centers, where they endured poor living conditions without access to clean water, sanitation, or stable livelihoods.

Eight years later, much of Marawi remains in rehabilitation. Thousands of displaced families are still unable to return, while the state repurposes their lands for commercial establishments like a stadium and convention center — a bitter insult to a people who lost everything.

The violence didn’t stop at Marawi. In Maguindanao and other Muslim communities, bombings continued under the guise of counterterrorism efforts against groups like Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the attacks persisted.

2. Massacres of Moro and Indigenous Peoples

Under Rodrigo Duterte’s regime, Indigenous Peoples and their advocates were targets of brutal state violence, with massacres carried out under the guise of counter-insurgency.

The Tumandok Massacre of December 30, 2020, saw nine Indigenous leaders executed and ten others arrested in Panay for opposing the Jalaur Dam project — a development threatening their ancestral land.

In the Lianga Massacre 2 on June 15, 2021, soldiers gunned down Lumad-Manobo farmers Willy Rodriguez and Lenie Rivas, alongside 12-year-old student Angel Rivas in Surigao del Sur. They were accused of being rebels but were community members fighting for their right to stay on their land.

On March 7, 2021, nine human rights defenders were killed during the Bloody Sunday Massacre raids. Among the nine dead are Puroy and Randy de la Cruz, Indigenous leaders of the Dumagat Sierra Madre.

The New Bataan 5 Massacre on February 24, 2022, saw the murder of volunteer teachers Chad Booc and Gelejurain Ngujo II, health worker Elgyn Balonga, and their two drivers in Davao de Oro. The military accused them of being red fighters killed in an encounter, despite their work providing education and healthcare to Lumad communities.

These are not isolated incidents — they are part of Duterte’s war on dissent. His administration weaponized "anti-terror" rhetoric to justify killings, red-tagging, and displacement. Indigenous Peoples were labeled enemies of the state, not because they were armed, but because they defended their lands from destructive projects and corporate greed.

3. Plunder of Indigenous Lands through EO 130

In the middle of a deadly pandemic and a year-long lockdown, Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 130 — a move that lifted the moratorium on new mining agreements, enabling large-scale environmental destruction. The order, signed on April 14, 2021, opened the floodgates for mining companies to pursue new permits. This also lifted the nationwide ban on open-pit mining, one of mining’s most destructive methods.

Marketed as an economic recovery measure under Duterte’s "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure program, EO 130 prioritizes profit over people. It sacrifices Indigenous ancestral lands and natural resources to fuel foreign-backed projects, sidelining the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process meant to protect Indigenous rights. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau rushed to approve new mining deals, fast-tracking corporate access to Indigenous territories without meaningful consultation or consent.

Duterte’s Build, Build, Build program accelerated land dispossession under the guise of development. The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project (PIP) in the Cordillera threatened Kalinga communities’ water sources, while the China-funded Kaliwa Dam project disregarded the ancestral land rights of the Dumagat-Remontado in Rizal and Quezon. In Central Luzon, New Clark City displaced Aeta communities, pushing them out of their lands for an urban mega-development project. Meanwhile, in Mindanao, the SMI/Tampakan Copper-Gold Project—one of the largest mining operations in Southeast Asia—jeopardized the survival of Blaan communities.

For Indigenous communities, EO 130 is not "economic development.” It is state-sponsored theft. It accelerates land grabbing, deforestation, displacement, and the destruction of sacred sites under the pretext of progress. Duterte didn’t just legalize environmental exploitation; he sanctioned the erasure of Indigenous peoples' right to their land and self-determination.

4. Terror Laws through the ATA of 2020 and EO 70

Rodrigo Duterte’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA) and Executive Order 70 (EO 70) turned the state’s anti-insurgency campaign into a war on national minorities.

The ATA of 2020 gave the government sweeping powers to label anyone a "terrorist" — a label often placed on Indigenous leaders, activists, and community defenders. Arrests, detentions, and killings followed, targeting those who resisted land grabs and destructive projects.

EO 70 established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which red-tagged Indigenous schools and organizations, justifying military operations in ancestral lands. Lumad communities in Mindanao faced school closures, mass evacuations, and massacres.

Under these laws, Indigenous peoples were treated as threats, not citizens. Their struggle for land and self-determination was branded as rebellion, while corporations gained easier access to their territories. Duterte didn’t bring peace — he brought fear, violence, and the systematic repression of national minorities.

#ConvictDuterte