Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement, Inc.

004 Sarip Auliya St., Bagua 2, Cotabato City 9600 Maguindanao, Philippines
Telefax: 63 64 421 1358, Email Address: mppm4peace@yahoo.com, Website: www.tripeople.org

September 18, 2015

Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Peace

On September 1, three indigenous peoples were killed by the Magahat-Bagani
paramilitary forces in Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. Few days before the killings,
the same paramilitary group harassed and forced the indigenous peoples to leave their
community. To date, the number of evacuees at the Tandag City Sports Complex in
Surigao del Sur is steadily increasing to close to 3,000 individuals.
These killings and harassments of indigenous communities are not new. Rather, they
have intensified through the years even though the Philippine government passed the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997 that mandates the recognition,
protection and promotion of the rights of the indigenous peoples/communities.
In the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA) on August 11 this year, the
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
shared that at most 100 indigenous peoples have been killed protecting their homes,
their lands and the environment over the last three years in the country. The number of
those displaced due to conflict is also staggering with drastic economic and social
effects. Despite all of these, justice remains elusive.
The patterns of these incidents are loud and clear. Those who are vocal at the forefront
of the struggle against development aggression and the advancement of indigenous
peoples rights are threatened, vilified, harassed and assassinated.
When Timuay Lencio Arig, a staunch land rights defender and a Teduray was killed by
unknown gunmen on October 2014, his family was continuously threatened by the
people behind his murder. With a failing judicial system and lack of political will among
the countrys leaders to implement the law and protect the aggrieved, the victims
families feared for their lives. Some prefer to run and hide than fight for justice.
Demanding for justice would just court more threats and perils because the perpetrators
are fully-armed and powerful with the support from multinational corporations, military
and even the revolutionary groups that are hiding behind the mantle of freedom and
espousing liberation of the indigenous peoples.
We are living witnesses to this long history of insurgency and counter insurgency
phenomenon that leave the communities into desolation. History informs us that
families, clans, tribes and communities were painfully divided to benefit the powers that
be. In most cases, those responsible in killings are those who are raised and afforded

Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement, Inc.

004 Sarip Auliya St., Bagua 2, Cotabato City 9600 Maguindanao, Philippines
Telefax: 63 64 421 1358, Email Address: mppm4peace@yahoo.com, Website: www.tripeople.org

with skills, logistics and reasons to kill by the ruling forces who are interested in
controlling the ancestral lands and resources.
These ruling forces in the communities are not just satisfied with killings and
harassments. They imposed systems that weaken the genuine indigenous political
structures (IPS) that allow free and collective decisions in charting their own political
status and economic, cultural and social development. Without power, the indigenous
peoples remain in the peripheries and susceptible to abuse and oppression.
Unless justice is not brought forth, we tolerate the culture of impunity and brutality.
Hence, the Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement strongly condemns these systematic
killings of indigenous peoples, leaders and activists. The killings must be stopped, the
perpetrators must be held accountable and justice must be served.
We enjoin the Commission on Human Rights, Department of Justice and other
government human rights agencies to conduct an immediate impartial investigation of
all the killings of indigenous peoples in Mindanao. Justice must also be served to all the
victims of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings.
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) must be genuinely implemented. All
aggressive and destructive development projects in ancestral lands, domains and
territories, especially those which violated the indigenous communities Free, Prior and
Informed Consent (FPIC) must be stopped. Those who issued permits and certifications
without FPIC must be investigated and sanctioned.
The intensified militarization must end and paramilitary groups and private armies not
only in indigenous communities but in the whole country must be disbanded.
Meanwhile, all resources must be utilized immediately to ensure that the rights of the
internally-displaced peoples will be fully upheld; their human integrity in the face of their
present situation is maintained and that their safe return to their communities is
assured.
Above-all, the pursuit of peace is the pursuit of social justice.

Rodelio N. Ambangan
Chairperson
Contact no. 09266803846