Stand With Environment Defenders!

Onward With Our Struggle In Defense Of Land, Territory, And Ways Of Life!

“Defending our land, territory, and way of life is not and will never an act of terrorism,” said International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) Global Coordinator Beverly Longid.

“For us, the life and identity of Indigenous Peoples (IP) are rooted in our relationship with the land and environment. Thus, our ways of life – culture and traditions, political systems, and economic life reflect the experiences and lessons of our harmonious living with the nature and sustainable utilization of natural resources,” Longid, a Bontoc-Kankanaey activist, explained.

Through the landgrabbing of IP territories, plunder of natural resources, and destruction of the environment brought about by mega-dam projects, agro-industrial plantations, and extractive industries operations such as large-scale mining have threatened the survival of IP and rural communities.

Land and environment defenders, communities, and organizations that resist development aggression projects are constantly subjected to harassment, vilification, killings, and other human rights violations. Across the globe, governments and corporations, behind these development aggression projects, have criminalized the defense of territories and rights.

According to Global Witness, the year 2019 saw a rise in the number of state-sponsored attacks against land and environment defenders. In that year, countries such as Colombia and the Philippines topped the number of recorded killings of environment and land defenders. Moreover, the Philippines has already been making global headlines for human rights violations under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

“Environment defenders and IP rights activists such as Gloria Tomalon and Jomorito Goaynon were jailed on trumped-up charges and have remained behind bars, while vilification and crackdowns against organizations and communities in the regions of Cordillera and Central Luzon continue,” Longid added.

The attacks against land and environment defenders remain incessant and have intensified in the time of COVID-19 pandemic when President Duterte placed the Philippines under a militaristic lockdown and further enforced its counterinsurgency policies.

“During the imposed lockdown, we have received reports on continuing and heightened militarization of Lumad schools and communities in Mindanao. On May 12, military operations were responsible for the bombing incidents in Lianga, Surigao del Sur and the arrest of Lumad leader Eric Enriquez,” she stated.

The same counterinsurgency policies and programs that terrorize, criminalize, and massacre IP and other environment defenders are the same policies that ensure the entry of investments and continuous operations of big businesses in ancestral territories particularly mining, dams, plantations, and logging.

“The defense of territories and the environment is ingrained in Indigenous ways of living. The defense of IP rights is also a defense of the environment. As we commemorate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we continuously work to inform the people on the state and struggles of the IP and rural communities who are at the frontlines to protect the environment and defend ancestral territories amid the challenges posed by the current health crisis,” Longid concluded.

Contributing to this global initiative and campaign, the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan), Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines, Asia Pacific Network on Environment Defenders (APNED), Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), and ILPS Commission XIX will hold a webinar on August 10, 2020 Monday, 4:00PM (GMT +8) to discuss the state of human rights and environment defenders in the Philippines. We take this opportunity to invite everyone to participate in this upcoming discussion and learn how we can move and act together to raise these issues on an international scale and further advance the environmental advocacy side-by-side protection of people’s rights.

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