The Philippines has long been a dangerous place for those who defend land and the environment. Community leaders have been assassinated for resisting dam projects, coal plants, reclamation projects, and large-scale mines. Indigenous groups have faced raids and murder after opposing megadams, often being labeled ‘communist rebels’. Across the country, defenders encounter the same pattern: violence, militarization, and criminalization that is used to silence the opposition to resource exploration in the name of development.
Asia’s most dangerous country for defenders
With 306 reported cases of killings and disappearances since 2012, the Philippines has held the unfortunate accolade of being first on the list for the number of murders and disappearances in the region for 12 consecutive years. Indications suggest potential state involvement in over half of the 210 reported killings of land defenders in the country over the last decade.
In 2017, the Philippines witnessed the highest ever number of murders of land defenders, with 48 people being killed. That year, the country also ranked first in this painful top worldwide listing, dislodging Brazil for the first time.
In 2023, of the 196 defenders killed globally, 17 were in the Philippines, the highest number in Asia. In 2024, the number fell to eight reported incidents, but the challenges faced by land defenders persist, painting a stark picture of the adversities they endure.
Mining, reclamation projects and land loss
The Philippines’ mining industry is booming due to increased global mineral demand for green energy. According to Global Witness, since the 1990s, local indigenous communities have lost an area of land larger than 2.2 million football fields due to mining.
Land reclamation and coastal development projects have displaced or threatened fishing and indigenous communities. Although there is no aggregate data as to the total number of such projects, a land conflict monitoring report in 2023 showed that the Philippines had at least 180 reclamation projects that involved thousands of hectares of sea area being claimed from coastal and marine ecosystems.
Research by the Manila College of Arts and Sciences has indicated that reclamation projects are covering almost 90% of Manila Bay’s coastal area, or over 27,000 hectares. Moreover, reclamation projects are affecting 1.56 million Filipinos directly and another 16 million indirectly.
Military role in criminalizing land defenders
Over the years, tactics such as ‘red-tagging’ and other forms of intimidation have been used to suppress indigenous leaders and Filipino activists who oppose ‘development’ projects. Red-tagging the environment and land defenders so as to associate them with communist insurgents has turned into a traditional practice that allows state security forces to silence them.
The Philippines military has been observed to be playing a significant role in criminalizing land defenders, with Forum-Asia reporting that 27% of the documented arrests involved the military, all within the Philippines.
To give just one example, in December 2020, security forces raided villages in the central Philippines, killing 9 indigenous Tumandok leaders and arresting another 16 land defenders. The incursion came just weeks after the Tumandok community had protested that the megadams threatened to submerge their ancestral lands. The leaders were red-tagged as communist rebels on the day of the protest. Five years later, the community continues to fight for justice and the survival of its way of life.
A regional lens: Asia’s wider trend
The Philippines is not alone. The detention of environmental and land defenders is also rampant in other Asian countries. Extended pre-trial detentions are rife, with a staggering 81% of cases experiencing detention that lasts a week or longer.
Between 2018 and 2024, men accounted for 73% of those arrested or detained, while women made up 27%. Indigenous Peoples were involved in 88 arrests, which represented 26% of the total reported defender detentions.
The same report from Global Witness shows that governments across Asia are ‘weaponizing’ laws to silence environmental and land defenders. India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are adopting these measures, although the scale and intensity in the Philippines remain exceptional.
In the Philippines, defenders are:
- Falsely labeled as terrorists or communist rebels through red-tagging
- Exposed to risks including extrajudicial killings, pre-trial detention, criminal charges, asset freezes, and surveillance
Indonesia:
- Exploits the laws protecting agribusinesses to imprison defenders in land disputes
- Imprisons defenders for a maximum term of four years
India:
- Resorts to anti-terrorism laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to silence dissent
- Violates freedom of expression to crack down on defenders
Vietnam:
- Uses tax-evasion laws to detain Non-Governmental Organization leaders
Call to action
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have consistently criticized the detrimental impact of red-tagging in the Philippines. The UN Human Rights Council has expressed concerns over the government’s reluctance to implement recommendations that aim to halt this practice.
Experts have called on the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to safeguard land and environmental defenders and conduct credible investigations into the attacks. They have urged the international community, including multinational corporations, to address and condemn the violence and ensure that their operations adhere to global human rights standards in the Philippines.
