Who are the Talaingod 13? And why is there a need to defend them?

November 28, 2024

Who are the Talaingod 13? And why is there a need to defend them?

November marks the anniversary of the National Solidarity Mission held in 2018 by the Talaingod 13 – a group of activists, indigenous peoples’ teachers and advocates – who responded to call for help from teachers and students in Talaingod, Davao Del Norte, after military orders forced them to leave the area.

Since then, the Talaingod 13, composed of former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Lumad school volunteer teachers, and the former Salugpongan Learning Center administrator, have been pelted with threats and wrongful convictions. The case of the Talaingod 13 is just one of many instances of judicial harassment committed against indigenous peoples.

We, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED), express our firm solidarity with the Talaingod 13 and the Lumad people of Mindanao, who continue to lead the struggle for national minority rights in the Philippines.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the plight of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, as well as the Talaingod 13, one must acknowledge the grim situation of the Lumad people – the largest indigenous group in the Philippines – who face limited access to basic social services like education and healthcare, and are also severely impacted by environmentally destructive projects, such as large-scale extractive operations by foreign corporations in Mindanao.

Due to militarization, state inaction, and the colonial, commercial, and anti-democratic nature of education in our country, the Lumad indigenous people established Lumad schools to exercise their right to education, hoping to make education accessible to Lumad children.

Through the establishment of Lumad schools, children were taught agriculture and self-sufficient farming, general academics and health, rights to self-determination, and environmental protection—providing a stark contrast to the oppressive and exploitative nature of colonial education.

The term “Lumad,” meaning “born of the earth” in Visayan, reflects their deep connection to their ancestral lands in Mindanao, a region rich in natural resources coveted by companies involved in mining, logging, and agribusiness. Despite this wealth, Mindanao is home to some of the poorest regions in the country, with Lumad and other communities facing constant displacement due to these environmentally destructive projects.

Due to the complicity of the local ruling class and foreign exploitative corporations against the environment, attacks on indigenous communities, who have been at the forefront of environmental protection, have worsened. These attacks include illegal arrests of students and teachers, aerial bombings, sexual harassment, school-related extrajudicial killings, and more, under the former President Rodrigo Durterte administration.

Since Lumad schools were accredited by the Department of Education in 2007, they have faced increasing harassment and closure following former President Duterte’s 2017 accusations of them fostering rebellion, culminating in violent military actions and red-tagging.

“Get out of there, I’m telling the Lumads now. I’ll have those bombed, including your structures,” the president said. “I will use the armed forces, the Philippine air force. I’ll really have those bombed … because you are operating illegally and you are teaching the children to rebel against the government.”

Since then, the Lumad communities and their teachers have faced even more extreme cases of red-tagging and harassment from military and paramilitary groups in the area. Threats and violence enforced by the military forced most of the Lumad schools to stop operating starting from 2018.

At the height of the state-sanctioned red-tagging and harassment, the Talaingod 13 responded to calls for help by leading a solidarity mission to assist displaced Lumad students and teachers in Talaingod, Davao Del Norte. This effort led to their eventual detainment and conviction on July 15, 2024, under charges of child abuse. The group, which includes ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, has since filed an appeal on July 22, 2024, to the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro.

To amplify support, the “Defend Talaingod 13 Network” was launched on October 17, 2024, advocating for the dismissal of charges against the Talaingod 13 and promoting the rights of Lumad children to education, free from militarization and environmental exploitation.

According to Ocampo and Castro, the attacks on Talaingod 13—especially the unjust ruling and charges—are “part of a broader, systematic effort to criminalize … and silence advocates for indigenous rights.”

For former Lumad school student Kat Dalon, Castro and Ocampo are helping advocate for the rights of the Lumad children. “They were the ones helping us assert our rights and tell what was happening in our communities.”

These wrongful convictions are part of the continuing attacks against the Lumad communities.

The case against Talaingod 13 is an example of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), which “seek to manipulate the judicial system by masquerading as legitimate legal claims, abusing laws” to harass and silence human rights defenders.

Throughout Asia and the Pacific, several forms of judicial harassment against Indigenous Peoples have persisted. Indigenous Peoples continue to be marginalized and discriminated against, and Indigenous Peoples’ activists and environmental human rights defenders are also vulnerable to attacks and judicial harassment. States employ laws and regulations deterring freedom of expression, recourse to arbitrary detention and arrest, and even resort to enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Standing with Talaingod 13 means joining in Lumads’ and the broader fight of indigenous peoples in asserting their rights to education, protecting the rights of indigenous people and environmental activists, and questioning unjust rulings in the ineffective justice system that aim to silence those who defend the marginalized.

Sign on to call to reverse the wrongful decision of the trumped-up charges on Satur Ocampo and Talaingod 13! https://chng.it/CDvZy2yNBd

#StopTheAttacks #DefendTheDefenders #DefendTalaingod13

References

  1. Bulatlat. (2024). Unjust conviction of Talaingod 18 proves ineffective justice system. https://www.bulatlat.com/2024/07/17/unjust-conviction-of-talaingod-18-proves-ineffective-justice-system/
  2. Defending Defenders: Challenging Malicious Lawsuits in Southeast Asia. (2020). https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/documents/2020_CLA_Annual_Briefing_SLAPPs_SEA_FINAL.pdf
  3. Gonzalez, M. (2019). DepEd formally shuts down 55 Lumad schools in Davao. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/philippines/242052-deped-shuts-down-lumad-schools-davao-region/
  4. Gutoman, D. (2024). Rescued Lumad youth debunks kidnapping, child-abuse raps against Talaingod 13. Davao Today. https://davaotoday.com/human-rights/rescued-lumad-youth-debunks-kidnapping-child-abuse-raps-against-talaingod-13/
  5. La Viña, T. & Nolasco M. (2021). “Lumad” schools and the right to education. Inquired.net. https://opinion.inquirer.net/140876/lumad-schools-and-the-right-to-education
  6. Save Our Schools Network. (2023). Facebook.com. https://www.facebook.com/saveourschoolsnetwork/posts/pfbid034hqvCgi19aoK7iqMTh4gq34MFsAJ4wvNhfGCRQ91MSSDXhAZZZEDokBARNFXk8ANl
  7. The Guardian. (2017). Philippines: Duterte threatens to bomb indigenous schools. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/26/philippines-duterte-threatens-to-bomb-indigenous-schools
  8. Tupaz, V. (2017). INFOGRAPHIC: Who are the Lumad? Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/moveph/178181-infographic-lumad-indigenous-peoples/