ADVERTISEMENT
"The good thing is, we conduct these livelihood training, together with their capacitation on leadership and paralegal. This also helps the sustainability of the indigenous communities in the long term."
“The training teaches us how to fight for our rights. Some of us are no longer silent nor do we submit in fear."
The dispute over Hacienda Almeda dates back to the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in 1988. The 1,546-hectare property, spanning the municipalities of Mamburao and Abra de Ilog, was initially placed under agrarian reform coverage due to its agricultural use.
“It is crucial to recognize the challenges faced by indigenous peoples. These include land rights issues, displacements from their ancestral domains due to mining activities, and militarization leading to armed conflicts and human rights violations,” the project rationale said.
Over 600 indigenous Mangyan families have been forced to evacuate from their homes in Victoria and Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro due to military operations including low-altitude strafing and bombing.
“The systematic series of human rights violations in Oriental Mindoro, Quezon, and the rest of Southern Tagalog all have the same pattern – they are all caused by development aggression carried out by large companies and backed by the Duterte regime.”
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.