Rights group, kin denounce harassment in Kalinga

“Police personnel from Pinukpuk entered our home without any consent or permission. Many of them went inside our house. Some wore masks. Some wore bonnets like thieves. Is that how the police behave?”

MANILA – Rights groups denounced the harassment experienced by a human rights defender and her family on November 30.

According to the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), the police reportedly led by PCol Gilbert Fati-ig forcibly entered the residence of Elma Awingan-Tuazon in Cawagayan, Pinukpuk, Kalinga. Some were reportedly wearing masks. Tuazon and her children were not at their house during the incident. 

In a statement, Innabuyog-Gabriela condemned the police’s forcible entry into Tuazon’s house. “The reported forcible entry into [her] house […] while she was away with her children is a clear violation of human rights and a direct attack on a committed woman human rights defender of justice and peace.” 

The group said that since the reported encounter between the 103rd Infantry Battalion and the New People’s Army (NPA), Tuazon and her family have been subjected to continuous intimidation, surveillance and harassment. 

“This harassment and intimidation has gravely endangered the safety and well-being of her children, one of whom has a heart condition that makes any form of stress or threat potentially life-threatening,” the group said. 

Shameless

Tuazon’s husband, an overseas Filipino worker, denounced in a video statement, the police’s forcible entry into their house. 

“Police personnel from Pinukpuk entered our home without any consent or permission. Many of them went inside our house. Some wore masks. Some wore bonnets like thieves. Is that how the police behave?” Chester Mark Tuazon said. 

“You harassed my family inside our own property. First, what was your purpose in doing that? To speak directly, the reason you are harassing my family is because they are standing against corruption in the Philippines,” he said, adding that because corruption is worse in the country, many Filipinos opt to work abroad. He described the situation as hopeless due to the corruption in the government. 

“Instead of going after those who are corrupt, the Pinukpuk police and intelligence personnel are going after my family who only expose corruption. You harass and intimidate them. You have no shame,” he said. 

Tuazon is a convenor of Justice and Peace Advocates of Kalinga (JPAK) and Sumkad Umili para iti Matagoan, Karbengan, Aglawlaw, Daga ken Dayaw (SUMKADD), a provincial formation opposing destructive dam and mining projects. She is also a three-term local councilor. 

Tuazon belongs to the Limos tribe of Kalinga and has been a staunch advocate against the Saltam Dam Projects of JBD Water Power Inc. (JWPI) along the Saltan River. In her youth, she was part of Progressive Igorots for Social Action (PIGSA), an Indigenous youth organization advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The harassment against Tuazon and her family happened following the firefight between the government troops and NPA which broke out on Nov. 21 in barangay Bayao. According to a report by the Northern Dispatch, several encounters followed and the last one reported was Nov. 25. The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA operating in the Ilocos-Cordillera has identified one fatality, Victor “Changli” Daligdig, a member of the Butbut tribe who were killed in the encounter. 

The CHRA said that a certain Arnold Baguilolay who was accused of being an NPA has been captured and is in police custody. The group urged the government to call for the suspension of military operations (SOMO) in the area for the safety of civilians and to uphold international humanitarian law. 

At risk

The Environmental Defenders Congress (EDC) said that the harassment of Tuazon and her family is a blatant abuse of state power. 

EDC stressed that the incident cannot be separated from the wider pattern of attacks on environmental and Indigenous rights defenders in the Cordillera and across the country. 

“With Pinukpuk heavily militarized by the 103rd IBPA, state forces have intensified their presence in civilian communities under military suspicions of insurgency. Instead of ensuring safety, this militarization has resulted in repeated harassment, intimidation, and surveillance—particularly against those actively resisting destructive projects and defending their ancestral domains,” the group said in a statement. 

The EDC added that Tuazon’s resistance against “profit-hunger development projects makes her a clear target in a climate where environmental defenders are increasingly criminalized, vilified, and subjected to state-orchestrated repression.”

“Under heightened police and military operations underscores the dangerous reality that those who protect land and life are among the most at risk,” the group said. 

The EDC expressed solidarity with Tuazon and the groups in the Cordillera that launched a humanitarian mission in Pinukpuk to deliver aid to the communities affected. 

“Their work—rooted in solidarity and service—is being carried out under the shadow of intimidation by the very institutions mandated to uphold rights and safety,” the EDC said. 

The Cordillera People’s Alliance, CHRA, and Serve the People Brigade–Cordillera launched the mission as the area was also struck by the recent typhoon. 

The group called on the public to denounce the assault on environmental and human rights advocates among others. “We demand accountability from those responsible and an end to the state’s repressive actions that endanger those who courageously defend their communities and the environment.” (DAA)

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