October 19, 2026
Urgent Alert
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s forceful dismantling of a peaceful kampuhan (campout) of peasants in Quezon City, Philippines last October 17.
More than 100 uniformed PNP personnel from the Quezon City Police Department were deployed to intimidate, harass, and surveil the campout. Police even used a LRAD (Long-Range Acoustic Device) to disperse the activists, farmers, advocates, and supporters of the campout. A LRAD is a special device that emits loud sounds which can cause permanent hearing loss. ICHRP condemns this unnecessary and overkill response from the PNP.
Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), peasant organizations, mass leaders, and farmers traveled from Bicol, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and other regions and set up a campout in front of the National Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on October 16. The campout was supposed to run until October 20, a day before the peasant-led protest on October 21.
Farmers chose the DENR as the campout site to call for genuine land reform and condemn the rapid construction of hundreds of “development projects” and renewable energy projects in their respective provinces and communities. These displace locals and cover thousands of hectares of agricultural lands that could have been used instead for domestic production.
The farmers also condemned the imperialist plunder of natural resources such as the controversial US-led Pax Silica initiative that disproportionately impacts farmers, drains valuable water and land resources, and forcibly displaces Indigenous Peoples in Tarlac province.
Instead of listening to their legitimate demands, the Marcos Jr. government resorts to violating the right to peaceful assembly of the peasants. This is in stark contrast to how he openly welcomed foreign investors during the Luzon Economic Corridor Investment Forum last September 10. It is clear on whose side Marcos Jr. stands— and it isn’t with the poor peasants and other oppressed sectors of Philippine society.
ICHRP stands in solidarity with the peasants who are bravely and rightfully asserting their rights and defending their lands. We fully support all activities held by different organizations in the Philippines this peasant month of October, and call on the international community to amplify the struggles of the peasantry in the country.
