09/10/2026
🚨 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧 | 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗟𝗕𝗢𝗚 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘'𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗔𝗖!
The UPLB College of Economics and Management Student Council (UPLB CEM SC) strongly condemns the harassment and intimidation perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command, Philippine Navy, and Philippine National Police (PNP) Balabac against a community consultation in Balabac, Palawan, on the impacts of El Niño and the continued encroachment on Indigenous ancestral lands.
The consultation sought to address the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and the threats posed by land grabbing, particularly amid the establishment of an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) site in the area. The rapid development of military infrastructure raises serious concerns about the potential environmental destruction and threats to the livelihood of communities whose ancestral domains stand to be affected.
On October 8, personnel from the AFP, Philippine Navy, and PNP reportedly interrupted the consultation in Barangay Catagupan and brought environmental advocates Marky Casaquite of Southern Tagalog Exposure and Brent Sumague of the League of Filipino Students–Southern Tagalog to the barangay hall for questioning. The team was reportedly threatened with device confiscation, while one personnel allegedly threatened to bury them alive if they returned. They were subsequently prevented from proceeding to a local resident's home and monitored by plainclothes personnel at their lodging. The incident also heightened fear among the Molbog community, whose members were reportedly told that they could not gather without prior coordination with local authorities and the police.
Instead of addressing the climate crisis and safeguarding Indigenous peoples' rights to their ancestral lands, state forces continue to be implicated in the harassment of communities asserting their rights. Such incidents raise serious concerns over whose interests are being protected when the welfare, security, and fundamental rights of Indigenous peoples are placed at risk amid expanding military infrastructure and competing interests over their ancestral domains.
The right to gather, conduct community consultations, and defend one's ancestral land is not a crime. The CEM SC calls for an immediate end to the harassment and militarization of the Molbog community, accountability for the reported threats against environmental defenders, and full respect for Indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination, peaceful assembly, and ancestral lands.
DEFEND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND PEASANTS! STOP MILITARIZATION AND LAND GRABBING!
