Indigenous groups from various parts of the Philippines commemorated the International Indigenous People’s Day on August 9. Led by the Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, together with national-democratic and environmental groups, they brought their grievances to Camp Aguinaldo, and offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

They condemned the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the militarization, bombing, harassment using the law and other human rights violations againsts indigenous peoples in front of its headquarters in Camp Crame.

Human rights groups recorded state killings of 334 environmentalists from 2001 to 2024. Of them, 164 were killed because of their resistance to large mining companies that devastated mountains, land and livelihood of national minorities.

In the offices of the DENR, they asserted the right of national minorities to their ancestral land and self-determination amid the continued peddling of the country’s natural resources to foreigners and the militarization of their communities. They condemned the agency for colluding with big mining and dam companies that destroy the environment and evict them from their lands.

Katribu said at least 14 foreign-funded companies are encroaching on ancestral lands. These are the Didipio Gold and Copper Mine in Nueva Vizcaya, Ipilan Nickel Corporation in Palawan, and Tampakan Mining in South Cotabato, Solar UV Farm in Ilocos Norte, Gened and Saltan Dams in Cordillera, Kaliwa Dam in Rizal and Quezon, Jalaur Dam in Iloilo, and South Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plant in Bukidnon.

At NCIP, they held the agency accountable for its blatant neglect of indigenous communities, and for its inaction amid widespread human rights violations against indigenous defenders, such as Dexter Capuyan and Bazoo de Jesus, and the unjust conviction of the Talaingod 13. They also condemned the agency for modifying the process of obtaining FPIC without consulting the natives. They also charged the agency with its tight ties with the NTF-Elcac, instrumental in many human rights violations against national minorities.