Statement
March 27, 2026
ICHRP condemns the March 15 decision of the Municipal Trial Court of Abra de Ilog, Mindoro to issue a motion for execution to allow Pieceland Corporation, a real estate developer known for recurring land-grabbing across Mindoro, to evict indigenous Mangyan-Iraya residents.
Court approval for eviction follows two years of food blockade and militarization that besieged residents. Human rights abuses worsened following the construction of a fence by Pieceland Corporation which essentially turned the area into an outdoor prison.
Pieceland Corporation’s blatant act of land-grabbing followed by violent attacks highlights an inescapable trend in Mindoro: the Philippine military, police and courts on the island have long served to protect the extraction of resources by local and national elites, at the expense of the Mangyan-Iraya and other peoples of Mindoro.
Attacks by police, military, and private militia against the Iraya span decades, particularly in service of landlords, logging companies, mining corporations, and real estate speculators.
Last October, international observers participating in the 2025 International Solidarity Mission visited the Mangyan-Iraya community in Abra de Ilog, documenting their experiences amidst constant harassment by agents linked to the military and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Findings of state neglect, military violence, and corporate exploitation were stark.
When the Philippine Supreme Court overturned a 25-year-old moratorium on mining in Mindoro Occidental in January 2025, projects by Agusan Petroleum and Minerals Corporation quickly sprang up on ancestral Mangyan-Iraya land without sufficient consultation. Development aggression in the form of renewable projects has been railroaded by Alternergy’s 375-MW Abra de Ilog Wind Energy Project, which plans to displace the local indigenous community to install 45-80 turbines by 2031.
On January 1, 2026, less than 24 hours into the new year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines killed three Mangyan-Iraya youth and 1 youth researcher (Jerlyn Doydura) through indiscriminate strafing and aerial bombings. Chantal Anicoche, allegedly found by the military, was then detained and disappeared until international pressure forced the AFP to surface and later repatriate her to the US.
The now court-endorsed eviction of Mangan-Iraya in Abra de Ilog is part of a pattern in the Philippines in which land grabbing and the subsequent displacement of indigenous people – perpetuated by corporate interest and intensive military operations – is backed up by the judicial system. ICHRP expresses solidarity with the Mangyan-Iraya struggle for self-determination and land. We call for the international community to support the Filipino people in their fight for justice in the face of extreme impunity and corruption.
On March 15, 2026, the Municipal Trial Court of Abra de Ilog issued a motion for execution, opening the way for the immediate eviction of the community — an action that Pieceland Corporation could carry out at any time. On top of this, the indigenous residents are being forced to pay for the company’s legal costs, despite being long oppressed by them.
Since May 2024, the Mangyan-Iraya of Sitio Malatabako in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro have faced forced displacement and cases of human rights abuses perpetrated by Pieceland Corporation, a real estate developer known for recurring land-grabbing across Mindoro.
For almost two years, the fence constructed by Pieceland Corp. has effectively become a prison within the community, resulting in a food blockade and severe hunger, including the death of an elder. Residents continue to face harassment, militarization, and intimidation from Pieceland Corporation with the backing of state forces, as well as ongoing threats from the police, military, and local government. Community leaders remain under constant surveillance.
The collusion between the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the Local Governance Unit of Abra de Ilog, and Pieceland Corp., in attempting to evict the Mangyan-Iraya, are fully exposed. Instead of defending the indigenous people’s ancestral land rights, the NCIP is pushing them to abandon their community while preparing for land use conversion that benefits large corporations. The local government’s inaction has allowed these abuses to continue unchecked.
Pieceland Corporation is using the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) against the Iraya people to seize their ancestral land—a law that was supposed to protect them. Among the charges filed by Pieceland in the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) against the Iraya are malicious mischief, trespassing, and usurpation or occupation of real rights and properties.
Harassment, intimidation, and threats continue against those who remain inside the fenced area. One Indigenous woman has already died due to an illness worsened by hunger, caused by the food blockade imposed by Pieceland on the community.
For years, the people of Mindoro–especially the Mangyan-Iraya indigenous communities–have been subjected to militarization, terror, and displacement. Under the guise of counter-insurgency operations, civilians have repeatedly become victims of indiscriminate violence and terror.
Militarization reached new heights January 1, 2026, when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) carried out aerial strafing and bombing operations in Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, during an encounter with the New People’s Army despite the latter announcing a ceasefire. In the aftermath, three (3) Mangyan-Iraya indigenous youth and one (1) youth researcher, Jerlyn Doydora, were confirmed killed. These killings were carried out by units under the 203rd Infantry Brigade (IB) of the AFP.
Chantal Anicoche’s case – allegedly “found by the military in the supposed encounter and then held in military custody for almost a month.
Mining ventures in Abra de Ilog—most notably projects linked to Agusan Petroleum that proceeded after the state brazenly overturned the province’s 25‑year mining moratorium—are now joined by the 375‑MW Abra de Ilog Wind Energy Project, which plans to install 45‑80 turbines by 2031 without genuine consultation or consent, trampling ancestral lands and livelihoods in favor of corporate plunder. The people of Mindoro are repeatedly denied climate justice: every typhoon brings floods, hunger and abandonment, yet the state offers no compensation or genuine relief, responding instead with indiscriminate aerial bombardment, strafing and escalating militarization that turns climate‑ravaged communities into a war‑zone. In October, the International Solidarity Mission sent delegates to investigate environmentally destructive projects and the accompanying harassment, only to be constantly surveilled and harassed themselves, underscoring how state violence and corporate extraction go hand‑in‑hand at the expense of the people’s safety and well‑being.
Last October 11, 2025, delegates from the Asia Pacific People’s Conference Against Climate Imperialism and Militarism arrived in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro for a Learning Solidarity Mission in partnership with local organization Repungpungan Amayan Iraya Pag Abra De Ilog. After paying a courtesy visit to local barangay (village) officials, the group was welcomed at the kampuhan (camp) set up by the local Mangyan-Iraya indigenous community in their year-long struggle against land grabbing in the area.
Despite harassment by state elements linked to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that escalated into a confrontation in the afternoon of October 11, the Mindoro mission team and the local Mangyan-Iraya community showed their determination to push forward with the Learning Solidarity Mission.
