The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and another UN experts to the Government of the Philippines on 5 November 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government acknowledged receipt of the communication on 15 November 2024. Regrettably, the Government did not address the questions and concerns expressed in the communication. If more replies are received, they will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
Since the sending of the communication, a notice of appeal was issued on 10 December 2024. However, the lawyers of the human rights defenders have yet to receive their official copies. Once they do, the 30-day deadline for submission of the appeal will officially commence.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the conviction of nine teachers and defenders of the rights of Lumad indigenous communities in Mindanao, including Ms. Ma. Eugenia Victoria M. Nolasco, Ms. Nerhaya Flores Talledo, Ms. Ma. Concepcion B. Ibarra, Ms. Maricel Oribawan Andagkit, Mr. Wingwing Mandacawan Dausay, Ms. Nerfa P. Awing, Ms. Marianie Aga, Mr. Marcial D. Rendon, and Ms. Jenevive Sedigo Paraba, as well as four other advocates of the right to education.
Ms. Ma. Eugenia Victoria M. Nolasco is an educator, an environmental defender and an advocate of the rights of indigenous communities in Mindanao. Since May 2018, she is the Executive Director of the Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center (Salugpongan Schools), an educational institution established in 2007 by the indigenous peoples’ group Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon (Unity in Defense of our Ancestral Lands), with the support of a religious organization. Ms. Nolasco is also a convener of Save Our Schools, a network of children’s rights organizations, which has been campaigning for the defense of Salugpongan Schools.
Ms. Nerhaya Flores Talledo, Ms. Ma. Concepcion B. Ibarra, Ms. Maricel O. Andagkit, Mr. Wingwing Mandacawan Dausay, Ms. Nerfa P. Awing, Ms. Marianie Aga, Mr. Marcial D. Rendon, and Ms. Jenevive Sedigo Paraba are volunteer teachers working in Salugpongan Schools. They have been engaged in the preservation of the cultural identity of Lumad communities and in the protection of children’s right to education.
The establishment of schools within the Lumad community in Mindanao, including the Salugpongan Schools, has been part of the efforts of Lumad indigenous groups, NGOs and church-based organizations to enable access of Lumad children to their right to education. Lumad schools intend to provide an education that reflects the needs and socio-cultural background of Lumad indigenous communities. The Department of Education of the Government of the Philippines accredited Salugpongan Schools after they were set up, authorizing the educational institution to run 54 community schools in the Davao region of Mindanao.
Salugpongan Schools and other Lumad schools have been facing several challenges throughout the years. These reportedly included delays in releasing permits to operate, attacks on and forcible closure of schools, harassment and intimidation of teachers, students and defenders of indigenous peoples’ rights. Concerns regarding the reported closure of indigenous community schools in Mindanao, the alleged systematic attacks on these schools, as well as the threats and harassment of teachers, parents and students were raised with the Government of the Philippines by Special Procedures’ mandate holders, including through communication PHL 4/2015.
Allegations concerning the human rights situation of Lumad indigenous peoples in Mindanao and the reported harassment, intimidation and acts of violence, including killings, targeting Lumad indigenous communities and defenders of their rights were also addressed in communications PHL 5/2015, PHL 6/2015, PHL 8/2017 and 16/2017.
ALLEGATIONS
Between June and October 2018, military operations in the municipality of Talaingod, in the province of Davao del Norte, reportedly intensified. The military presence in the area allegedly increased and additional checkpoints were established, including close to the houses and schools of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, military forces reportedly started scrutinizing food and medicine supplies more thoroughly. The increased presence of military personnel in the area allegedly led to further violence, harassment and intimidation targeting Lumad indigenous peoples, their schools, and defenders of their rights.
On 25 October 2018, military and paramilitary groups, allegedly including members of the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the so-called Alamara paramilitary group, demanded teachers to close the Salugpongan School in Nasilaban village and leave the area. Because of safety reasons, in November 2018 teachers transferred to the Salugpongan School in Dulyan, another village in Talaingod. However, the pressure on the school in Dulyan also reportedly increased, as a military presence was established in the area and the delivery of goods to school personnel and students was allegedly hindered.
In November 2018, to respond to the escalation of the situation in Talaingod, in particular in Nasilaban and Dulyan, and seek help from the institutions, Ms. Nolasco, as Executive Director of Salugpongan Schools, sent complaint letters to a number of national and local authorities, including the Department of Education of the Government of the Philippines, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative of Davao del Norte, and local government’s units in Talaingod and Davao del Norte. Most of these complaints reportedly remained unaddressed, and no action was taken in support of the indigenous community and defenders of their rights.
On 27 November 2018, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, an organization defending young people’s right to education and teachers’ rights, condemned the forcible closure of the schools and the cases of harassment and intimidation of students, teachers and community members, and called on the House Committee on Human Rights, a standing committee of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, to investigate the situation in Talaingod.
On 28 November 2018, paramilitary forces closed the Salugpongan School in Dulyan, forcing students and teachers to evacuate the area. In response to the teachers’ call for help, Ms. Nolasco mobilized a so-called “National Solidarity Mission” to assist the students and educators in the evacuation. Members of the solidarity mission had vans at their disposal as they were reportedly supposed to travel to the area the following day, and they agreed to accompany her. After walking for about three hours, the evacuated students and teachers reached Butay village in Talaingod, where the solidarity mission picked them up. The “National Solidarity Mission” and the rescued group, reportedly comprising of a total of 75 individuals, including students, teachers, members of the solidarity mission and human rights defenders, were allegedly subject to an attack on their way to the city of Talaingod, as one of their vans was shot at by individuals on a motorcycle. The group was stopped at a checkpoint in the village of Santo Niño and headed to the police station to report the incident to the police. Police officers reportedly inspected the vans, establishing the presence of minors. The group of 75 people was held at a police station overnight.
On 29 November 2018, eighteen people, including ten teachers and administrators of the Salugpongan Schools and eight members of the solidarity mission, were charged with child abuse, human trafficking, and kidnapping. They were all released on bail on 1 December 2018. Prosecutors later dismissed the charges of human trafficking and kidnapping against the human rights activists because of lack of convincing evidence. The charge of child abuse remained.
On 10 July 2019, the Department of Education Region XI released an order to suspend all 54 Salugpongan Schools, on the basis of a report by a member of the military accusing the educational institution of not adhering to the curriculum of the Department of Education. According to the administrators of Salugpongan Schools, these were fabricated allegations. The educational institution was asked to provide reasons why they should be allowed to continue operating within a short timeframe. Even though the Schools submitted such arguments, on 5 September 2019, the government body requested the closure of all Salugpongan Schools, which was completed before the end of October 2019. Reportedly, the administrators of Salugpongan Schools could not challenge the government’s decision because of the Covid-19 lockdown that started in February 2020.
In 2018 and 2019, the government also closed and targeted other Lumad schools, reportedly accusing their teachers and administrators of sympathizing with the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. This practice, known as red-tagging, was also used against Ms. Nolasco and other human rights defenders in Davao in 2020, when their faces appeared on a number of posters featuring their pictures and labelling them as “wanted human rights violators”. The authors of this attack are unknown. Red-tagging was condemned by international human rights mechanisms (see, in this regard, Special Procedures’ communications PHL 1/2021, PHL 1/2023, PHL 2/2023 and PHL 4/2023) as well as the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which described it in a ruling issued on 8 May 2024 as a threat to the right to life, liberty and security of the person.
On 3 July 2024, after almost six years of legal proceedings, the Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 2 convicted Ms. Ma. Eugenia Victoria M. Nolasco, Ms. Nerhaya Flores Talledo, Ms. Ma. Concepcion B. Ibarra, Ms. Maricel O. Andagkit, Mr. Wingwing Mandacawan Dausay, Ms. Nerfa P. Awing, Ms. Marianie Aga, Mr. Marcial D. Rendon, Ms. Jenevive Sedigo Paraba and four other individuals for violating section 10(a) of article VI of Republic Act 7610, also known as the “Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act”. The Court sentenced the indigenous rights defenders to a minimum of four years, nine months and 11 days up to a maximum of six years, eight months and one day of prison. The Court also ordered them to pay, “jointly and severally”, 10,000 Philippine pesos for moral damages and 10,000 Philippine pesos for civil indemnity to each of the 14 minors involved, plus a 6 per cent interest per year from the finality of the Court’s decision until the payment of the full amount.
The Court upheld the argument of the Prosecutor stating that the activists failed to coordinate the rescue operations with law enforcement and government agencies and to obtain the parents’ permission before transporting 14 students of the Salugpongan Schools, thus exposing them to risk and jeopardizing their safety.
In the same sentence, the Court acquitted four other individuals facing the same charges because of lack of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The eighteenth person who had been accused was discharged in 2023 and became a witness.
On 15 July 2024, the decision of the Court was communicated to the accused indigenous’ rights defenders.
At the time of writing, the convicted defenders are out on bail. Once the Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 2 notifies the competent Court of Appeal, they have 45 days to file the appeal.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our deep concern about the conviction of defenders of the rights of Lumad indigenous communities in Mindanao, which resulted from charges that we fear might be linked to their work on the protection of indigenous children’s right to education. We are concerned that the criminalization of their human rights work might set a dangerous precedent and have a chilling effect on the civic space in the Philippines, resulting in the silencing of defenders of indigenous peoples’ rights and deterring individuals from expressing dissent and exercising the right to defend the rights of others.
The following is based on a communication written by the UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and another UN experts to the
Government of the Philippines on 5 November 2024. The communication remained
confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time
to reply. The Government acknowledged receipt of the communication on 15
November 2024. Regrettably, the Government did not address the questions and
concerns expressed in the communication. If more replies are received, they
will be posted on the UN
Special Procedures communications database. Since the sending of the communication, a notice of appeal
was issued on 10 December 2024. However, the lawyers of the human rights
defenders have yet to receive their official copies. Once they do, the 30-day
deadline for submission of the appeal will officially commence. This is a shorter version of the original communication.
