Alongside Philippines-based groups, international delegates from organizations across the Asia Pacific, as well as from international solidarity organizations such as the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), are part of the ISM.

Since October 11, separate teams have conducted investigative and learning missions in Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, and regions of Eastern Visayas to look into impacts of climate change and reports of human rights violations against communities carried out by state forces. In some of the areas of the ISM, delegates looked into the negative impacts of substandard and poorly-planned flood control infrastructure.

However, different teams have escalating surveillance and harassment from state forces and local officials across the duration of the mission. In Barangay Sta. Inez, Tanay, Rizal, the ISM team reported harassment from members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as persistent surveillance by AFP soldiers who had stationed themselves near the facility in which delegates were staying. Delegates of the Rizal ISM team were looking into the negative impacts of the Kaliwa-Kanan-Laiban Dam project in the area.

In Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, ISM delegates reported surveillance from unidentified individuals on motorcycles, as well as aerial drone surveillance, at their campsite. They also reported targeted surveillance and increasing of military and police presence near their camp, numbering in the dozens. Here, ISM delegates were looking into the situation of a local Mangyan-Iraya indigenous community that had been displaced from their lands.

The Eastern Visayas team of the ISM reported surveillance at their hotel in Tacloban City, Leyte, by members who introduced themselves as intelligence officers of the AFP. Delegates staying at a hotel in Manila also reported surveillance by an individual who also introduced himself as an AFP intelligence officer.

“We demand an immediate end to these attacks and for the Philippine government to allow us to freely conduct our International Solidarity Mission,” said Daning Ramos of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, who joined the ISM team in Occidental Mindoro.

“The International Solidarity Mission has no intention other than to learn more about the reality of people on the ground in one of the countries most impacted by climate change in the world,” said Rachelle Junsay, spokesperson of PRCJ. “We resolutely condemn the continuing harassment carried out by the Philippine government under Marcos Jr. on our international delegates, and call on the international community to take a stand against these attacks.” #