Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairperson and Makabayan senatorial candidate Danilo Ramos strongly condemned the continuing militarization in Mindoro, citing grave and human rights violations perpetrated by state forces against indigenous Mangyan communities.

Ramos expressed outrage over the findings of a fact-finding mission conducted by Karapatan Southern Tagalog, which documented a harrowing pattern of military abuses in several barangays across Oriental and Occidental Mindoro—including aerial bombardments, extrajudicial killings, enforced evacuations, food blockades, and unlawful arrests.

“What’s happening in Mindoro is a full-blown military siege disguised as counterinsurgency. Indigenous communities—already reeling from poverty and state abandonment—are being terrorized in their own ancestral lands,” Ramos said. “These atrocities expose the Duterte-Marcos administration’s disregard for human rights and its brutal campaign to silence rural dissent.”

Among the most affected areas are:

Pola and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro, home to the Mangyan-Tadyawan and Mangyan-Hanunuo;
San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, inhabited by the Mangyan-Buhid;
And Bulalacao, also home to the Mangyan-Hanunuo.

In these communities, military helicopters were reported to have strafed and dropped bombs over residential zones. Civilians in Sitio Lomboy and Sitio Bakyaan described schools being shut down and repurposed as military camps, kaingin farms and homes burned down, and soldiers issuing threats of persecution for supposed links to the New People’s Army (NPA). Witnesses also attested to a Mangyan-Hanunuo family of five reportedly dying by suicide under duress from military presence in Mansalay last year.

“This is not counter-insurgency—it is state terrorism. No amount of development talk can justify bombing schools, displacing entire villages, and pushing families to take their own lives,” Ramos added.

The KMP leader also emphasized that the militarization has disrupted livelihoods—preventing farmers from tending to their fields and denying food access to displaced residents. The report also flagged gender-based violence by military personnel in a Mangyan-Buhid community in San Jose, as well as the weaponization of disinformation against humanitarian groups.

Ramos vowed to continue pushing for justice for victims of State abuses and accountability for all perpetrators of human rights violations. As a senatorial candidate under the Makabayan bloc, he pledged to champion measures that uphold indigenous and peasant rights, dismantle structures of repression, and redirect national policies toward genuine land reform and rural development.

Adding to the momentum of Indigenous and peasant resistance, several Makabayan senatorial and partylist candidates—joined the “Karapatan, Kabuhayan, Kultura, Kalikasan, Kinabukasan, Ipaglaban Kasama ang Sambayanan” 2025 Mangyan Day celebration in Occidental Mindoro yesterday, April 9.

Hosted by the Repungpungan Amaya Iraya Pag Abra de Ilog (RAIPA), members of the Mangyan-Iraya communitywelcomed participants with a traditional “nganga” ritual, involving the communal chewing of bunga (betel nut), apog (lime), and tabako. The ceremony underscored the Mangyan people’s deep cultural traditions and their commitment to protecting their land and rights.

“We stand with the Mangyan people in defending their ancestral domain, their dignity, and their future,” Ramos declared. “What we witnessed yesterday was a powerful reminder that unity, culture, and collective struggle remain stronger than fear and fascism.”

Ramos called for an immediate halt to military operations in civilian areas, accountability for human rights violations, and genuine peace founded on justice and respect for Indigenous self-determination. As a Makabayan senatorial bet, he vowed to bring the voices of the rural poor to the national stage. “Lupa, buhay at kapayapaan” ito ang ating mga ipinaglalaban.” ###