OVERVIEW

Rural communities in the Southern Tagalog region of the Philippines need help. Militarization is wreaking havoc in the provinces of Quezon and Mindoro, and there is deliberate suppression of information at the expense of people’s lives.

Last week saw the latest spate of military attacks in these communities, all under the veil of counter-insurgency. Up to 100 troops of the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army conducted combat operations in the mountains of Brgy. Naibuan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, killing Juan Sumilig—a civilian farmer—on August 1. The next day, in Quezon province, the military launched aerial bombing and strafing in Brgy. Maguibuay, Tagkawayan—from around 5 p.m. to evening. In Rizal, the military is restricting the activities of the Indigenous Dumagat people, requiring their permission to participate in activities such as joining protests, selling their local produce (bagsakan), and allowing relief operations into their communities.

Independent human rights groups immediately dispatched humanitarian and fact-finding mission teams to check on the situation and plan how to assist affected communities, but they also experienced harassment and intimidation. Social media accounts that post updates are filled with trolls trying to change the narrative, and in some cases, content is taken down without warning. 

A de facto martial rule is in place in these areas, as well as in other provinces in the country, disrupting the livelihoods of rural and Indigenous peoples and endangering their lives. The local government units have remained silent and unresponsive to the situation.

 With the issuance of the new National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD) 2025-2028, counter-insurgency operations and violations of international humanitarian law are anticipated to intensify. The Marcos Jr. regime, on the other hand, is hypocritically building its international reputation as a “champion of international humanitarian law” through its hosting of the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is happening from August 11 to 14 in Makati City, Metro Manila.

It is in this context that we–the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty, Int’l Indigenous People’s Movement for Self-determination and Liberation, Asia Pacific Research Network, and Tanggol Magsasaka, under the banner of the campaign platform Ground Zero–are calling for support to Defend Southern Tagalog. There is an urgent need to draw greater attention to and expose the intensifying militarization in the region and to provide support to the affected communities.”

WAYS TO SHOW SOLIDARITY:

• Post content online to call attention to the situation with a wider audience. 
  • Let us rally online through protest selfies, video messages, and statements bearing our calls and expressing solidarity.

• • • Here are our calls that can be printed: https://bit.ly/defendstplacards

You may also make your own placards with our calls.

• • • Post them on social media with the hashtags #DefendSouthernTagalog and #UpholdIHL, and tag @PCFSGlobal so we could share. Alternatively, you may upload your contributions in our drive for online sharing: https://bit.ly/defendstcontrib

• 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
  • Tanggol Quezon – https://www.facebook.com/tanggolquezon
  • Defend Mindoro – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573113523066
  • KASAMA TK – https://www.facebook.com/kasamatimogkatagalugan
  • BALATIK – https://www.facebook.com/balatik2001
  • Tanggol Magsasaka – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564825404474 

• Sign and share our solidarity statement “Defend Southern Tagalog! Condemn the US-Marcos regime’s all-out war against Filipino peasants and IPs!”: https://bit.ly/defendst
• Donate to the humanitarian and fact-finding missions. For details on how to donate, please contact the PCFS Global Secretariat at secretariat@pcfs.global or through our social media accounts (@PCFSGlobal on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram). 

CALLS

• Defend Mindoro
• Defend Quezon
• Defend Rizal
• Defend Southern Tagalog
• Uphold IHL
• Stop the attacks
• Stop the bombings
• Stop the killings