Reference: Beverly L. Longid, Co-Convener, Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples Rights
As the nation commemorates the anniversary of the EDSA People Power, we are reminded of the Filipino people’s unwavering resistance against tyranny and oppression. Today, the Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples Rights (IP) joins the call to uphold the spirit of EDSA by resisting the continuing threats to national patrimony, peace, and human rights. The persistence of political dynasties, cronyism, corruption, and repression is systematically eroding the hard-won gains of EDSA. Now more than ever, we must remember history and its lessons: Uphold the Spirit of EDSA People Power! Indigenous Peoples Demand Accountability!
During the Marcos Dictatorship, Indigenous Peoples bore the brunt of development aggression, with countless lives lost in the struggle for ancestral land rights. In 1980, Cordilleran leader Macli-ing Dulag was assassinated for leading the opposition to the Chico Dams, a flagship project of the Marcos regime. Many other IP leaders and activists in the country were killed, enforcedly disappeared and unjustly detained. Today, as the Marcos family returned to Malacañang, state-backed attacks against Indigenous communities persist.
In July 2024, the Talaingod 13—a group of Lumad educators, human rights advocates, and community leaders—were wrongfully convicted of “child endangerment” for rescuing Lumad students and teachers from paramilitary forces operating in their ancestral domain. On February 19, 2025, the Armed Forces of the Philippines conducted aerial strafing in Brgy. Tagumpay, Pola, Oriental Mindoro. The military presence has escalated following the expansion of extractive industries and energy projects encroaching on Mangyan ancestral lands.
The Duterte regime proved to be no different from the Marcos dictatorship. In 2020, nine Tumandok leaders opposing the Jalaur Dam were massacred under Duterte’s administration. In 2019, former Davao City Mayor and current Vice President Sara Duterte ordered the closure of Lumad schools, denying thousands of Indigenous students their right to education.
The struggle of Indigenous Peoples for ancestral land rights, social justice, environmental justice, and human rights continues to be violently suppressed, demonized, and criminalized by the state.
The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), enacted under the Duterte administration, has resulted in more abductions, killings, and threats to Indigenous leaders and rights defenders. Marcos Jr. has not only continued but expanded these repressive policies. Furthermore, his administration has accelerated Duterte’s push for extractive industries, exacerbating the plunder of Indigenous lands and territories.
The lifting of the mining ban under Duterte triggered widespread militarization in Indigenous communities. Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. has positioned mining as a pillar of economic growth while fast-tracking energy projects. The 2023 State of Indigenous Peoples Address reported that over 45,000 Indigenous individuals have been forcibly displaced or affected by militarization, threats, and human rights violations. A staggering 99% of these cases stem from territorial conflicts, with more than half involving breaches of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process, further undermining Indigenous self-determination.
We must honor the spirit of EDSA People Power by coming together to demand accountability from former President Rodrigo Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Vice President Sara Duterte for their continued human rights violations and attacks on Indigenous communities. We must once again rise and end the exploitation of our nation’s resources, especially our ancestral lands.
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