"As Philippines Hosts Regional Meet On Human Rights, Country Is Deadliest In Asia For Farmers, Indigenous Peoples", 17 August 2025

The Philippines is considered the deadliest country in Asia for farmers, indigenous peoples, and land activists advocating for land rights…

In 2024, PANAP reported monitoring six killings related to land conflicts and struggles in the Philippines, which resulted in nine victims. These findings are part of an upcoming report, “Land & Rights Watch,” that the regional advocacy group will release later this month. Globally, the Philippines ranked second behind Mexico, which recorded five killings with 18 victims.

Aside from killings, PANAP also monitored 10 cases of land conflict-related arrests, detention, and legal persecution in the Philippines last year, with 41 victims, as well as nine cases of threats, harassment, and physical assault with 11 victims.

“These alarming numbers cast doubt on the Philippine government's claimed commitment to human rights and international humanitarian law. President Marcos Jr.'s administration aims to present the Philippines as a regional champion of human rights through hosting the IHL regional conference. However, the increasingly repressive political environment experienced by Filipino farmers, farm workers, indigenous peoples, and other rural sectors—and their advocates—paints a very different picture,” PANAP deputy executive director Arnold Padilla said.

The new PANAP report compiled reports of human rights abuses against communities resisting land and resource grabs that it monitored last year…

…, indigenous Maranao farmer and former political prisoner Juan Sumilhig was reportedly killed by soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Battalion in San Jose, …

“We recognize that a civil war is ongoing in the Philippines between the government and revolutionary groups in rural areas. But IHL clearly prohibits bombings, indiscriminate gunfire, and the killing of unarmed civilians, which the Philippine military appears to violate. Additionally, relentless red-tagging, including that of farmers and activists asserting the right to land, blurs the line between civilians and combatants within the government’s counterinsurgency efforts and is used to justify such attacks,” added Padilla…