Kaammoyo ti Kappia (KTK) and Ilocos Human Rights Alliance (IHRA) condemned the 77th IB soldiers for abducting two farmers in Sitio Salicsic, Barangay Dampig, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte on the night of August 11. Isnag Yapayao Balangon Tribal Council to KTK and IHRA reported that uniformed and plainclothes 77th IB elements arrested Belmar Garvida and Ferdinand Bangngad (Willy).

The organizations stated that the soldiers who abducted them did not present arrest warrants and identification to the tribes in the area. The soldiers returned Garvida to the community several hours later but kept Bangngad in captivity.

Soldiers already subjected Garvida and Bangngad to intense interrogation before the abduction. “There is a possibility that they have already undergone physical and psychological torture,” IHRA said.

The victims’ community has long faced the threat posed by the destructive Cabacanan Dam project, which the tribes strongly oppose. The victims and their tribe have also experienced surveillance, harassment, and intimidation for their opposition.

The Isnag-Yapayao people have strong concerns about the destructive effects of the Cabacanan Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (CSRIP) on the mountains of Barangay Saguigui, Pagudpud. The project will rise on their ancestral land covered by the “disputed area” between the Barangay Dampig and Caunayan Isnag-Yapayao tribe, and Barangay Saguigui claimants posing as indigenous people.

The Cabacanan dam, part of the ₱837 million CSRIP, will be 95.10 meters tall from its foundation and 248 meters wide at the base, capable of storing 2.87 million cubic meters of water. The indigenous people said releasing water from the dam’s spillway, measuring 9.88 square meters—equivalent to a four-lane road—will flood and potentially wipe out the barangays below the dam site. It is also close to the Bangui and Vigan-Aggao fault lines passing through Pagudpud, making it vulnerable to earthquakes.

The Isnag Yapayao Balangon Tribal Council Inc (IYBTC) and Isnag Yapayao Ugayam Tribal Council (IYUTC) from Barangays Dampig and Caunayan already strongly opposed the project last year.

Amid continuing state forces’ harassment, IHRA and KTK demanded the immediate surfacing of Bangngad and for his rights to be respected, as well as accountability from the police and military personnel involved in the arrest.

“As people of faith, we are called to act when justice is trampled and the oppressed cry out. We call on our fellow church people—pastors, priests, lay leaders, congregations, and faith-based institutions—to speak out boldly, to pray with conviction, and to stand with the persecuted,” KTK spokesperson Fr. Randy Manicap said.