IP rights advocates demand justice for 2015 Lianga Massacre victims

Indigenous rights advocates held a rally outside the Department of Justice (DoJ) in Manila on Tuesday to demand justice for three prominent Lumad figures killed 11 years ago in Surigao del Sur.

Members of Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, led by former ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro, gathered along Padre Faura Street to mark the anniversary of the 1 September 2015, killings of Emerito Samarca, Dionel Campos and Datu Juvello Sinzo in Lianga.

Castro said state-backed violence against indigenous communities has not ceased over the past decade but has instead evolved into systemic repression targeting the Lumad and their advocates.

“The cry to Stop Lumad Killings was born from the blood spilled in Lianga, but instead of heeding this call, the state intensified its campaign of terror,” Castro said.

“The massacre was not an isolated incident. It was a precursor to wholesale attacks on Lumad schools, the forced displacement of communities, the killing of youth like Obello Bay-ao, and the judicial persecution of anyone who stands in solidarity with them,” she added.

Castro, who was among the group known as the “Talaingod 13” convicted following a 2018 humanitarian mission to aid displaced Lumad students and teachers, condemned the ongoing legal actions and militarization affecting indigenous families.

“Dionel Campos was murdered for defending his ancestral domain, and today, his daughter Michelle remains in jail on fabricated charges,” Castro said. “They kill the parents and imprison the children to crush the spirit of an entire people.”

Katribu called for immediate accountability for the perpetrators of the Lianga massacre and an end to military operations, school closures, and corporate encroachment on indigenous ancestral lands.