What’s really behind the Philippine military’s actions in Mindoro?
statements on social media linked below:
The Philippine military says bombings, arrests and terror-tagging are about "peace unity and development" but what is the truth? It’s profitable for them to harm our kababayan. In 2026, the budget for the NTF-ELCAC jumped to a 314% increase -- an allocation of ₱8.1 billion [$138.4 million].
The promise of funding tied to "counterinsurgency" prioritizes discretionary power to military officers and incentivizes them to escalate their profit-driven schemes to institutionalizing terror-tagging, enforced disappearances, mass detention, and murder. Activists, unionists, peasants, journalists, and community leaders are red-tagged to justify their persecution.
Like many of the AFP's attacks, the military's January 1 bombing of Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro was justified under “counterinsurgency” operations. However, in reality, these attacks are repressive tactics used to suppress people's resistance against large-scale mining.
On February 5, 2026, the Philippines signed an agreement with the United States to push for more mining in the country. In 2025, the Supreme Court nullified a 25-year-old ban on large-scale mining in Abra de Ilog depsite its threats to ecosystems and ancestral domains.
Across the country, the uptick in large-scale mining operations are linked to attacks on indigenous leaders and environmental defenders, particularly in resource-rich areas like Mindoro, Mindanao, and, in recent news, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, where anti-mining residents were brutalized and arrested.
These efforts to open up the Philippines to large-scale mining coupled with the increased funding for the NTF-ELCAC leave Filipinos vulnerable to more attacks and bureaucrat corruption. After the January 1 bombing, hundreds of Mangyan indigenous people were displaced and several children killed. With the Philippine government selling off our land and people, we can expect many more to be sacrificed for the sake of profit.
As we approach the anniversary of People Power, we remember that the mass movement can overcome any form of state deception and fascist attacks.
We will continue to fight back.
From the US to the Philippines, stop the terror-tagging!
End the culture of impunity! Expose the lies of the NTF-ELCAC & AFP!
Abolish the NTF-ELCAC!
Defend Mindoro! Defend people's organizations!
Activism is not a crime! Stop the killings!
Stop the bombings!
End the International Humanitarian Law violations!