We’ve had enough, stop the harassment!” This is the appeal of farmers and indigenous Mangyan people against the intensified military operations in southern Oriental Mindoro. According to the Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid (PKM)-Oriental Mindoro, AFP-PNP forces have been harassing communities for decades, with the situation becoming worse since June.

Eight AFP battalions are deployed in Mindoro. Five of these are under the 203rd Infantry Brigade, concentrated in the towns of Roxas, Mansalay, Bulalacao, and Bongabong. They are stationed in 17 military camps. Under the guise of “localized peace engagement” and “Serbisyo Caravan,” conducting Mobile Community Support Program through the mountains and communities in more than 21 sitios across Mansalay, Bulalacao, and Roxas.

The influx of 2nd Infantry Division troops into Mindoro is linked to the declaration of the island as a national priority area for suppression in 2025. Along with the troop deployment, violations of the human rights of residents and indigenous Mangyan have reportedly intensified.

The soldiers brought disruption to daily life and livelihoods of the residents, along with crimes, anti-social behavior, and decadent acts in the communities they occupy. These include theft, destruction of tools and crops, gambling, disrespect toward women, prostitution, rape, and forcing residents into servitude.

In Oriental Mindoro, from 2022 to the present, there have been eight recorded cases of extrajudicial killing, 15 cases of illegal arrest and detention, 16 cases of abduction, and five cases of indiscriminate firing (bombing and strafing). The most notable human rights violations involve a series of sexual abuses by the 4th Infantry Battalion against women in a community in southern Mindoro.

Within about a year, seven women were reported victims of rape. Two were minors, two were reported to becoming pregnant, and one died a week after being released from a soldier’s camp having come down with a fever.

Profit for foreigners and local capitalists

Militarization in Oriental Mindoro is not only aimed at suppressing the revolutionary movement, but also at clearing the way for so-called “development” projects on the island, such as large infrastructure projects by foreign and local corporations, corruption-ridden projects by local government units, renewable energy projects, and mining. AFP and PNP troops serve as loyal watchdogs over the lands and machinery owned by the ruling classes.

Residents are opposing mining and dredging operations in Oriental Mindoro, including the Bulalacao Coal Mining Project in Barangay Cambunang, Bulalacao; planned oil mining by Pitkin Petroleum Limited; extraction of “armour rocks”; and a sand dredging project in the Balete River.

There are plans to build 10 offshore wind farms on the island, three of them in Oriental Mindoro. Turbines would be placed in Bulalacao’s waters, as part of the global Coral Triangle that needs protection due to impacts on the marine ecosystem.

The military operations also form part of preparations for US military activities on the island. There is a secret US military base on Lubang Island. It was also discovered that the US Peace Corps held meetings in the town of Naujan to condition Mindoreños for the US-instigated war against China.

Just resistance

According to PKM-Mindoro, it is just for the people to defend the country’s right to self-determination. It is also just to join the people’s war, especially when there is no freedom and the people are being deprived of their right to live.

The PKM strongly promotes the national-democratic program as a solution to the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the country. The program addresses landlessness among farmers and indigenous Mangyan, including the dismantling of large landholdings and pastures held by landlords since the 1980s. The New People’s Army has been a steadfast ally of the masses in carrying out agrarian revolution. Most of these lands are still being used by peasants and the Mindoro masses today.