[PRESS RELEASE] APNED decries continuing violations of environmental and human rights in Mindoro Island

PHILIPPINES — The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders, alongside the People’s Rising for Climate Justice, International Commission for Human Rights in the Philippines, and MANINDIGAN, held an International Press Conference on February 9, 2026, to condemn continuing rights violations in Mindoro Island, Philippines, one of the hotspots for militarization in the country. 

On January 1, Mindoro Island, a site of large-scale mining operations and militarization, was bombed and strafed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The attack killed five Mangyan-Iraya Indigenous children and two other youth members. 

Fatrisia Ain of the Buol Plasma Peasant’s Forum, a member organization of APNED from Indonesia, spoke about her experience during the recent Learning and Solidarity Mission (LSM) held on Mindoro Island last October 2025. She shared that local communities reported how militarism caused fear, loss of livelihood and displacement while corporations are allowed to exploit their natural resources. 

Fatrisia shared that the stories of the participants in the International Conference on Climate Change and Militarism that followed the LSM reflected a pattern in the Global South wherein militarism occurs in areas with resource extraction. These stories reflect how state security forces are being used to silence dissent in sites of large-scale mining, plantations and energy projects, among others. She connected this experience with the on-ground reality of land and environmental defenders all over the world stating that “In Southeast Asia, Global Witness reported that defenders were more likely to face surveillance, criminalization, and harassment when opposing extractive industries or state development projects.” Most of the security issues faced by defenders are related to large-scale mining, agribusiness, and logging. 

There is a growing need for international solidarity in the struggle against militarization, land-grabbing, and environmental degradation. APNED stands with the people of Mindoro Island and all environmental defenders facing attacks for their work in upholding environmental rights. We call on fellow environmental advocates to support local communities who are at the frontlines of environmental defense.