Paper short abstract:

In Mindanao, contrasting ecological values and understandings of development form the core of a conflict in which the state labels Lumad Indigenous peoples as terrorists, 'justifying' their forced removals from their land, the bombing of their schools and extra-judicial killing of their leadership.

Paper long abstract:

This paper traces the history of capitalist, individualistic, anthropocentric understandings of development in the Philippines from Spanish colonisation to American imperialism. It argues that the structures introduced enabled the present colonial matrix of power and its prioritisation of profit and power over people and planet. Focusing specifically on the mining industry and Lumad Indigenous communities in Mindanao, drawing on interviews with affected persons, it outlines the current situation of environmental injustice in which the military forcibly remove Lumad from their ancestral land to enable mineral exploration.

After highlighting Lumad resistance to this oppression it argues that capitalist understandings of development and progress are the hidden motivation behind the government labelling Lumad as terrorists. They then use this label in an attempt to justify the bombing of Lumad schools and the extra-judicial killing of their leaders. Contrasting understandings of development and different ecological values are at the core of this conflict and the oppression of Lumad communities. For the government and its agencies, the environment is a resource to be exploited for profit, a stance supported by international institutions such as the World Bank. For Lumad, land is life, and the environment it is part of their spiritual system, which they must protect and respect.

In addition to the very real danger that being labelled as terrorists poses to Lumad life it also serves to silence and discredit their anti-capitalist, environmental, communal visions that have much to contribute to understandings of development, particularly given our intensifying global ecological crisis.