IP groups raise alarm over threats of more violence in Maguindanao del Sur

The warning follows a string of violent incidents, including the 2024 ambush of South Upi’s vice mayor and the February murder of an IP leader, whose body was found decapitated

MANILA, Philippines – Indigenous peoples’ (IP) groups and a peace advocacy organization have sounded alarm bells over reports of escalating threats and harassment against non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs) in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur, following the election of a Teduray tribe member as mayor.

The warning followed a string of violent incidents, including the August 2024 ambush and killing of South Upi Vice Mayor Roldan Benito, a member of the Teruday group, and the brutal murder of indigenous peoples leader Fernando Promboy, whose decapitated body was found in February this year.

Benito’s sister, Helen, was elected mayor on May 12. Eight days later, police served an arrest warrant on her political rival, Janet Insular, in connection with the 2024 ambush. Insular, who lost the mayoral race, and her husband, incumbent mayor and newly elected vice mayor Reynalbert Insular, were named suspects in the attack — allegations they have denied.

The couple is facing charges of murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder over the ambush in Barangay Pandan, South Upi. Authorities have taken them into custody, though concerns persist over broader impunity.

“None of the perpetrators have been held accountable” for most of the killings, said Louise Marie Lara, communications manager of the non-governmental organization Climate Conflict Action Asia (CCAA), citing data from local group Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG).

TJG recorded at least five killings of indigenous individuals in South Upi this year, and 90 since 2014.

IP leaders said the threats and violence were part of a broader pattern: political clans, armed groups, and land developers seeking to gain control of ancestral lands. The NMIPs have long sought formal recognition of their ancestral domain in the predominantly Muslim Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and have faced repeated displacement and violence in the process.

“It’s all about our ancestral land,” said Letecio Datuwata, a Teduray-Lambangian chieftain, alleging that various interest groups were seeking to displace NMIP communities to pave the way for projects, including proposed relocation sites for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said the situation mirrors what happened in Kusiong, a village in nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao del Norte, where a Teduray community was relocated to the foothills of Mount Minandar. The site was later hit by landslides that killed 27 residents during Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (Nalgae) in 2022.

South Upi, a fourth-class municipality with over 43,000 residents, has a substantial NMIP population and covers more than 300 square kilometers.

Datuwata told Rappler on Thursday, May 29, that threats and harassment intensified after Helen Benito’s election, with unidentified groups allegedly targeting and threatening her Teduray and Lambangian supporters.

“More than 15 NMIP leaders and more community members in South Upi are receiving death threats every day,” read a petition released on Tuesday, May 27, by seven indigenous leaders and organizations.

The petition was signed by representatives from Task Force Bantay Kalikasan, NMIP Youth Network, Inged Fintailan, Bangkesoy De Manganguda and Lambangian Manangguwit (BDMLM), the Lambangian Peoples Organization, the Teduray People’s Organization, and one barangay IP mandatory representative.

The signatories urged the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), and several Bangsamoro and national agencies to bolster security in the area.

They said IP leaders have reported being followed by unidentified men on motorcycles or in vans without license plates, while others have been forced into hiding or confined to their homes out of fear.

According to the groups, a task force for NMIP protection was promised during congressional hearings held between December 2024 and February 2025. However, they said, the task force “has not been felt in the community.”

The petition called for the deployment and reshuffling of security forces in “hotspot” barangays to ensure neutrality, the setting up of more checkpoints, sanctions for security officers found to have endangered NMIPs, and bi-monthly meetings with relevant agencies for monitoring.

The groups also sought enhanced congressional oversight and civil society monitoring to ensure implementation of indigenous rights laws in South Upi.

“We appeal to our government institutions to help us feel safe and free from fear in our homes and ancestral domain,” the petition read. – Rappler.com