The Defend Southern Tagalog campaign is led by the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty, the International Indigenous People’s Movement for Self-determination and Liberation, the Asia Pacific Research Network, and Tanggol Magsasaka, under the banner of the campaign platform Ground Zero.

OVERVIEW

As part of our continuing campaign to Defend Southern Tagalog—launched in August 2025—the campaign platform Ground Zero calls to denounce the overkill strike operations and ongoing attacks in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines.   

From early morning until noontime on January 1, 2026, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) bombed and strafed Barangy Cabacao indiscriminately. These strikes killed four civilians, including three Indigenous Mangyan-Iraya children and one youth researcher. A total of four attack helicopters were documented dropping 12 bombs and strafing the area four times, allegedly resulting in encounters between the military and members of the New People’s Army (NPA). Hundreds of residents were also forced to evacuate.

The joint forces of the 76th Infantry Battalion, 1st Infantry Battalion, 59th Infantry Battalion and the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion, under the operational control of the 203rd Infantry Brigade, conducted the strikes—an overwhelming deployment of thousands of armed forces in one village for a brutal operation carried out just a few hours after welcoming the New Year. The NPA had declared a four-day unilateral ceasefire, including on January 1, making the attack entirely unprovoked.

Following these reports, the human rights group Karapatan Southern Tagalog conducted a humanitarian and fact-finding mission to investigate the extent of the blow to the affected community. However, the military and local government blocked the delegation and downplayed the casualties, claiming only one casualty. Even the friends and family of Jerlyn Rose Doydora, one the student researcher who died during the incident while suffering from an illness, are not allowed access to the area to retrieve her remains.   

Chantal Anicoche, a Filipino youth leader from the US, is also being held in military custody. Like Doydora, she spent the holidays conducting relief work within the Mangyan-Iraya community. Following intense public pressure, state forces were compelled to surface her—though they released a dubious “rescue” video that critics believe was staged. She remains out of contact as of writing.

There are also concerted efforts to control the narrative and downplay, if not cover up, the situation in the island province. Online trolls are bombarding the social media accounts of concerned groups, attempting to force the removal of posts—similar to the attacks on Ground Zero’s Zero In: Mindoro webinar in March last year—while propping up state propaganda that celebrates the operation.   

Public funds are fueling this state terror, justified as counter-insurgency operations. Policies like the Anti-Terror Law and the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development 2025-2028, implemented through machineries such as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), have resulted in countless and horrifying accounts of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 

Currently, a total of 10 military battalions are deployed across Mindoro. Human rights violations in the province totaled 16,733 victims this past year, as documented by KARAPATAN Southern Tagalog. These abuses—including land grabbing, hamletting, forced displacement, threats and harassment, psychological trauma, extortion, and trumped-up charges—were further exposed during the October 2025 International Learning and Solidarity Mission (ILSM) organized by the Peoples Rising for Climate Justice in neighboring Sitio Malatabako. Beyond these violations, the mission also verified urgent environmental threats and the dismal socio-economic conditions facing the Mangyan-Iraya people.

More recently, December saw the abduction and torture of Mangyan-Iraya women’s leader Dolores Solangon, alongside a raid and the arbitrary arrest of former Abra de Ilog mayoral candidate Monet Alcantara. 

Aside from the threats, harassment, bombings, and killings, communities in Abra de Ilog suffer from severe hunger due to hamletting and food blockades. Routine military operations have compromised the livelihoods of peasant and Indigenous communities and put their lives at risk. Unfortunately, local government units have become complicit in this situation.   

Behind the militarization and de facto martial law in Mindoro, as in many other provinces across the Philippines, is development aggression. In Mindoro, these military operations are designed to clear the way for corporate interests, including Agusan Petroleum’s mining operations, the 375 MW Abra de Ilog Wind Energy Project, and various ecotourism schemes. Mineral resource projects in Mindoro cover almost 59,000 hectares, while approved big wind projects threaten an estimated 83,000 hectares. The Mangyan-Iraya communities have consistently resisted this state-backed land grabbing of their ancestral domains.

Ground Zero, in line with its Defend Southern Tagalog campaign, urgently calls upon its international network and the global community to condemn the Cabacao massacre and the escalating militarization of Abra de Ilog and the greater Mindoro province, in solidarity with the Mindoro people. 

Justice for the victims of Cabacao massacre!
Release Chantal Anicoche!
Stop the bombings!
End militarization!
Uphold IHL!
Defend Mindoro!
Defend Southern Tagalog!

CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT: WAYS TO SHOW SOLIDARITY

AMPLIFY OUR CALLS. We urge our members, networks, and the international community to bring urgent attention to the defense of Mindoro. Join us in condemning violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, demanding justice for the victims of the Cabacao massacre, and calling for the release of Chantal Anicoche. We encourage the release of statements, press releases, and multimedia content such as photos and videos to amplify these calls and counter state-sponsored narratives.

Share the content from the social media pages of people’s organizations and rights groups from the region:

• Karapatan Southern Tagalog – https://www.facebook.com/STKarapatan
• Defend Mindoro – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573113523066
• Tanggol Magsasaka – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564825404474 
• Karapatan – https://www.facebook.com/karapatan

PRESSURE THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT. Demand accountability by contacting Philippine embassies and consulates in your respective countries. Urge the immediate cessation of militarization in Mindoro and the withdrawal of all military battalions from the island province. Furthermore, reach out to your local legislators and allies to pressure the Philippine government to uphold its international human rights obligations.

RELEASE CHANTAL ANICOCHE. We demand the immediate release of Chantal.

• Sign and share the statement: https://tinyurl.com/ReleaseChantalAnicoche 

SUPPORT THE HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS. Donate in cash or in kind to provide direct aid to affected communities. Your contributions will also fund urgent on-the-ground investigations, including upcoming fact-finding and solidarity missions.

You can send financial support through this link: https://ichrp.net/donate/