CONTEXT & CALL TO ACTION
This peasant month, From October 11-15, progressive and human rights organizations in the Philippines hosted an International Solidarity mission to document and expose the Filipino people’s struggle against land grabbing and the impacts of widespread militarization in the countryside on peasants and Indigenous peoples.
Since the first day, ISM teams in Southern Tagalog (Rizal and Occidental Mindoro), Negros Occidental, and Eastern Visayas experienced surveillance, harassment, and intimidation.
Throughout the ISM, delegates documented unidentified people on motorcycles filming delegates, faced questioning by members of the Armed Forces, observed a drone flying above their ISM location, faced police and military presence surrounding ISM venues, and in one case even had Armed Forces enter the main venue of the ISM in Mindoro, scaring away children who were playing there.
The attempts of the Marcos regime to undermine the International Solidarity Mission are part of the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency campaign which seeks to quash those who are seeking change to the status quo through respect for indigenous sovereignty and genuine land reform.
Day to day, the peasant movement in the Philippines is resisting various land grabbing attempts of the big landlord class and foreign entities, whether via palm oil plantations,renewable energy projects or other forms of land use conversion that turn people’s land into golf courses, subdivisions or malls.
The struggle of peasants for land, and the people’s resistance is just. While the Marcos regime and its minions plunder the people’s resources through fake flood control projects, they also enrich themselves by overseeing projects in rural areas and serving foreign corporations over the people.
On October 21st, just days after the completion of the ISM and Asia Pacific People’s Conference on Climate Injustice and Militarism, the peasant movement in the Philippines will mount a major protest action, known as a lakbayan, marching from the Department of Agrarian Reform to Mendiola in Manila to hold the US backed Marcos regime accountable for their crimes agains the people.
As peasants in the Philippines advance, intensify and develop their struggle, our solidarity support must expand and become more bold.
In order to amplify the findings of the International Solidarity Mission and the campaigns of peasants in the Philippines, ICHRP is calling for a Global Day of Solidarity with the Peasant Struggle Against Land Grabbing, on October 21st.
To expose & oppose the responsible, US backed Marcos regime, we are calling upon members and friends of ICHRP to hold actions in front of Philippine embassies and consulates in major cities across the world.
CALLS
Highlight the following calls in signs, speeches and written publications:
SUPPORT THE PEASANT STRUGGLE FOR GENUINE LAND REFORM!
END AID TO THE PHILIPPINE MILITARY AND POLICE!
END SUPPORT FOR THE US BACKED MARCOS JR REGIME!
END SUPPORT FOR CORRUPTION & PLUNDER IN THE PHILIPPINES!
SOLIDARITY IS NOT A CRIME! LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!
