The aerial strafing by the 76th Infantry Victrix Battalion in Barangay Tagumpay, Pola, Oriental Mindoro on February 19, 2025 is a serious escalation of human rights and a violation of International Humanitarian Law against indigenous Mangyan communities.
The forced evacuation and house-to-house operations by the military are often repeated human rights violations when there are government “development” plans with huge foreign and local capitalists.
Mindoro with its rich biodiversity has attracted mining companies, energy projects, privatization of water resources and airport construction that encroach on ancestral lands.
Again, the often repeated question is development for whom? Big business companies use the military and the police to sow terror and violence that impact on residents who bear the brunt of displacement from their homes, destruction of crops and loss of livelihood.
Of utmost concern is the aerial bombardment that has devastating effects on health. The direct impact of bombings includes injuries and even fatalities. Children suffer malnutrition, emotional distress and trauma, often leading to lifelong psychological scars.
As a community nurse, I served the communities of Mindoro. I saw, experienced and felt the aspirations of our Mangyan brothers and sisters for a peaceful and self-reliant life.
It is heartbreaking that they have long been abandoned by the government of their right to health and basic social services and are now under attack.
In solidarity with the Mangyan community and residents of Mindoro, stop military operations and withdraw armed forces from indigenous and peasant communities in Mindoro.
Cancel all environmentally destructive projects, particularly those encroaching on Mangyan ancestral domain.#
