Quezon City, Philippines – Delegates and organizers of the “Grounding Solidarity: A Learning and Solidarity Mission to Communities Affected by Climate Injustice and Militarism” declare a successful start of the international solidarity mission, despite facing threats and harassment on its first day. The mission, which consists of international and local delegates from different parts of the globe, and spans across the regions of Southern Tagalog, Eastern and Western Visayas, aims to build solidarity with communities affected by climate threats exacerbated by environmental plunder, corruption, and militarization.
Local community members hosting the Mindoro mission leg expressed gratitude for the presence of delegates and the solidarity shown toward their struggles.
“Natutuwa ako na maraming nakarating dito sa Mindoro upang makiisa at makibahagi sa aming kalagayan. Kung kami lang, mahihirapan kaming buwagin ang bakod, kaya kailangan namin ng suporta at gabay. Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga taga-ibang bansa na nagplano at nagpunta rito sa Mindoro, sa aming lupang ninuno ng tribong Iraya,” — William (not his real name), 60-year-old farmer from Mindoro. (I am grateful that many have come here to Mindoro to stand with us and know more about our situation. On our own, it would be hard to tear down the barriers, so we need their support and guidance. I thank those from the other countries who planned for this and came here to Mindoro, ancestral land of the Mangyan-Iraya tribe.)
International delegates affirmed the community’s strong resistance amid ongoing threats to their safety and livelihoods.
“We’ve just been treated so kindly and welcomed so genuinely. It’s because the people here are being exploited, their rights are being trampled on. And they know we’re here to support them, stand in solidarity, and hear their voice and their stories. They were able to share a traditional ritual, which was incredibly powerful. It was basically the earth telling us that we were meant to be here together to fight for our land – lupa”, Damien Connor, Kalikasan Solidarity Organization.
However, despite the mission’s successful opening, delegates have reported harassment by elements linked to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) at their campsite in Mindoro while others reported being surveilled by covert agents in their respective lodgings in Leyte and Manila mission legs. Peoples Rising for Climate Justice (PRCJ), the mission’s main organizer, denounced this intimidation campaign.
Reports indicate that covert agents surveilled delegates’ lodgings and photographed participants without consent. In Mindoro, barangay officials arrived at the campsite demanding a mayor’s permit and a complete list of all delegates, insisting that the previously submitted courtesy letter was “not official.” Officials threatened to declare participants persona non grata if they failed to comply.
Under existing laws, no barangay or mayor’s permit is legally required to hold activities on private premises. There is no law that compels disclosure of the names of participants or delegates, especially in advocacy, humanitarian, or mission-related activities. This includes foreign delegates, whose entry and presence are governed by immigration law.
Participants maintain they have permission from the property owner and are exercising their right to free assembly, yet the barangay continues to insist on its own clearance.
According to PRCJ, even as state agents threatened the delegates, the very presence of the mission proved a decisive win. The need for solidarity for affected communities by twin evils of climate injustice and militarism underscores the need to protect the environment and its defenders.
The Grounding Solidarity mission also seeks to build collective resistance against climate threats amplified by environmental plunder and the misallocation of public resources intended for disaster mitigation and basic necessities. The flagrant abuse of Indigenous rights—denying ancestral lands, ignoring FPIC, and eroding self‑determination—reveals a wider pattern of displacement and criminalization. Land-use conversion and militarized counter-insurgency are weaponized to silence peoples’ struggles for land and justice.
The mission forms a part of a series of events leading up to the Asia Pacific People’s Conference on Climate Imperialism and Militarism in Manila (October 16-17) and builds momentum toward COP30 Amazonia, where global movements will advocate for people-centered climate solutions rooted in justice and solidarity.
Defend our ancestral lands, long live international solidarity! ###