CAGAYAN DE ORO — Several groups condemned the continuing killings of non-Moro Indigenous Peoples in the Bangsamoro region after the brutal killing of another Indigenous leader in Maguindanao del Sur.

The Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples Youth Network demanded accountability from the government for its repeated failure to protect their communities, as it called the latest attack “not an isolated incident but part of a long history of bloody violence against Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples in the Bangsamoro region.”

Ramon Lopos, a member of the Teduray Indigenous people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), was reportedly found beheaded on his farmland in Sitio Kulab, Barangay Limpongo, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town, on the eve of Indigenous Peoples Month, September 30.

An investigation by the Bangsamoro police is ongoing. They have yet to determine the real motive.

In a statement sent to Bulatlat, Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu), a national alliance of IP organizations, attributed the killing to land conflict, according to information it received from Timuay Labi Leticio Datuwata, supreme tribal chieftain of Timuay Justice and Governance, the indigenous political structure of Teduray and Lambangian indigenous communities.

The group said the slain 65-year-old Teduray leader was also shot by an undetermined number of gunmen, whom Datuwata suspects are among the rival claimants of Lopos’ land.

Beverly Longid, Katribu national convener, said Lopos was killed while defending his land.

“His death again highlights the systemic violence and land-grabbing that Indigenous Peoples continue to face in their ancestral lands,” she added.

According to Climate Conflict Action, an independent non-government peace advocacy group that analyzes climate and conflict data, which also released a statement of condemnation, Lopos is the 102nd non-Moro IP killed in the region since 2014 based on data from the Timuay Justice and Governance.

The peace advocacy group said that amid promises of protection, the brutal killing of Lopos must be seen as a sign of the state’s inability to protect the Teduray tribe from ethnic cleansing.

“Who will believe future promises made by government authorities about their protection?”

Prior to this, Teduray leaders Fernando Promboy and Nickasio Tayas Mindo were killed earlier this year. Promboy was also beheaded in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town, while Mindo sustained fatal injuries after being ambushed in Barangay Romongaob in South Upi town, in the same province.

Promboy’s cousin, Juanito, was also killed in an ambush in April 2024 due to an alleged land dispute.

Edriane Shane Capisong, student regent of Mindanao State University System, who also denounced the “barbaric” killing of Lopos, called on the national and regional governments to bring justice and ensure protection and security of indigenous leaders and communities across Mindanao.

Katribu stressed that the recent killing underscores the “deep hypocrisy” of the government’s observance of National Indigenous Peoples’ Month.

“While officials pay lip service to Indigenous heritage and culture, Indigenous communities remain under threat, harassed, displaced, and killed with impunity,” Longid said. (JDS)