The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) strongly condemned the continued harassment and surveillance of delegates of the International Learning and Solidarity Mission (ISM) in Abra De Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. KMP is among the co-organizers of the ISM and the Asia Pacific People’s Conference Against Climate Imperialism and Militarism.

Since the start of the ISM activities last October 12, intelligence officers were seen taking photos and videos of participants and residents. This morning, a surveillance drone was spotted flying low over the community, hovering above the activity areas and even the comfort rooms of mission participants. The delegation of 32 Mangyan-Iraya farmers and residents of Sitio Malatabako, Abra De Ilog, along with their counsels, were also blocked at a checkpoint this morning while en route to the Municipal Circuit Trial Court. The Mangyan-Iraya farmers are facing trial for malicious mischief, trespassing, and usurpation or occupation of real rights and property, charges filed by Pieceland Corporation to grab their ancestral land.

“These harassment show the desperation of the State and corporations to intimidate those who stand with the poor and the oppressed,” said KMP Chairperson Danilo Ramos who is joining the ISM in Mindoro. The Mangyan-Iraya and their supporters are being treated unfairly for simply defending their land and seeking accountability,” according to the peasant leader.

On October 18, 2024, the Mangyan-Iraya farmers were illegally arrested by the PNP and Pieceland’s private guards, who falsely accused them of “trespassing” on private property. Among those arrested were 12 minors.

For more than a year, the community has been hamletted and placed under a food blockade, surrounded by armed men from Pieceland Corporation and soldiers of the 76th Infantry Battalion. Indigenous families have been barred from farming, hunting, and gathering food, while reports of harassment, beatings, and trauma persist.

Adding insult to injury, Pieceland Corporation has weaponized the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) to legitimize its land-grabbing of Iraya ancestral territory.

KMP said the case of the Mangyan-Iraya is a glaring example of the failure of land reform and the government’s betrayal of farmers and indigenous peoples. The Iraya’s struggle is the struggle of all Filipino farmers,” Ramos added. “Instead of protecting the people, agencies like the DAR, NCIP, and the military serve the interests of landlords and corporations that displace the poor.”

Reports show that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has been involved in anomalies and questionable practices of manufacturing free, prior, and informed consent from the Iraya people. In fact, in 2008 the Agusan Petroleum and Mineral Corporation was able to acquire an exploration permit for gold, silver, zinc, and copper covering nearly 54,000 hectares of land in Abra de Ilog, with the help of the NCIP.

Also targeted in Abra de Ilog town is the Abra de Ilog Wind Project by Alternergy, purportedly to turn Mindoro into a renewable energy exporter to Luzon via the Batangas-Mindoro interconnection.

At present, much of the land being seized by Almeda Inc. and Pieceland Corporation is home to the Iraya’s settlements, sacred groves, burial sites, watersheds, and their livelihood. ###

Images from Southern Tagalog Exposure.