Ryan Mendoza is a nurse who has worked for several church-based organisations in Mindanao, including the National Council of Churches, promoting human rights and the right to health for indigenous peoples. The communities are affected by logging, mining and mono-crop plantations, mainly oil palm and pineapple. He organised a campaign against the companies that own the plantations, which were grabbing the local peoples’ land – land which allegedly originally belonged to the community. He was accused of being part of the communist movement and could not go back to the communities since he was told he was put on the blacklist of people who were defenders or organised the communities. Due to death threats, Mendoza had to leave Mindanao and has lived in exile in Europe since 2018.