Lakbay Lumad Solidarity Statement

As the members of the Lakbay Lumad delegation near the end of their time in the U.S., we stand in solidarity with the indigenous leaders from the Philippines here to expose U.S.-sponsored violence against their communities and to call on those in the U.S. to join them in speaking out against it.

We understand that the indigenous people of the southern island of Mindanao (known as the Lumad) have long been the targets of military occupation and of ecological exploitation. Thousands have been forcibly displaced to make way for mining and resource extraction, and the majority of the Philippine Army’s forces are deployed in the region. We also understand that the Lumad people have long organized for their right to land and to self-determination, with at least 70 indigenous leaders in the Philippines killed over the past six years for their work against the national and multinational interests threatening them.

On April 1, 2016, thousands of farmers and indigenous Lumad people blockaded a national highway in Kidapawan, Mindanao, demanding the release of 15,000 bags of rice as part of an emergency response to severe El Niño-induced drought. As farmers faced the loss of 70% of their food crops – and thousands of families starved – the Philippine National Police opened fire on the protesters, killing 6 and leaving more than 100 wounded.

This was only the latest incident in a long legacy of state-sponsored repression, and we condemn this and every attack against the Lumad people. As U.S. veterans and service members, we further condemn the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its military relationship with the Philippines despite this and other violations. The Philippines receives at least $50 million in military assistance from the U.S. each year, and in Mindanao, the U.S. has partnered directly with the Philippine National Police, offering equipment, training, and more to forces complicit in violence against civilians. We call on the U.S. government to end its support to forces shooting civilians as they assert their right to survive.

The Lumbia Air Base in Mindanao is one of five recently announced as a site for rotating access by U.S. troops – an expansion of military presence made possible by the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the U.S. and the Philippines. Knowing the history of abuses connected to U.S. military occupation, from the murder of Jennifer Laude to the Jolo Island drone strike that killed 15 villagers in 2012, we demand an end to EDCA and the removal of all U.S. troops from the Philippines.

As an organization that has members who have chosen to resist and refuse service in Iraq and other U.S. occupations, we acknowledge the history of U.S. soldiers choosing to defect from occupying forces in the Philippines. We are grateful to the Lakbay Lumad delegation for sharing their stories and their movement with those of us here in the U.S. With this in mind, we continue to call for support of Filipino people’s movements as they organize against the U.S. violation of their sovereignty that began with the 1898 Philippine-American War and that continues to this day.