The Philippines has been ranked as the top country in Asia with the highest number of documented killings of land defenders, a recent report from an international human rights organization showed.
London-based Global Witness said in its September 2021 report that the Philippines is also among the top countries in the world with the highest number of land defenders' deaths per capita. The other countries are Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia and Guatemala.
Land defenders are defined by the group as "people who take a stand and peaceful action against the unjust, discriminatory, corrupt or damaging exploitation of natural resources or the environment."
Out of 227 worldwide deaths documented by Global Witness in 2020, the Philippines ranked third in the world in terms of definite number with the highest number of deaths. This came after it logged 29 land-related killings, mostly of the indigenous people and state officials or park rangers. The top country is Colombia, with 65; followed by Mexico, with 30.
In Asia, other countries where documented killings were reported were: India, with four; Indonesia, with three; Thailand, with two; and Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Sri Lanka, with one respectively.
"In the Philippines, opposition to damaging industries is often met with violent crackdowns from the police and military," Global Witness said in its 36-page report entitled "Last line of Defence."
According to the report, over half of the lethal attacks they gathered were directly linked to defenders who were opposing mining, logging and dam projects
"President Duterte used the COVID pandemic to further crackdown on dissent... The government also took advantage of the pandemic to rush through the Anti-Terrorism law, which came into effect in June. Critics argue that this will accelerate 'red-tagging'–labelling activists and social leaders as communist rebels–and will lead to an increase in violence against environmental and indigenous defenders," it added.
Global Witness expressed alarm that the rise in the number of land defenders' killings was "a crisis against humanity" because "the unaccountable exploitation and greed driving the climate crisis is also having an increasingly violent impact on people."
"Each killing is a complex and deeply personal tragedy, rooted in a predatory economic model driven by greed. It might feel morbid to record and analyse each death of a land and environmental defender," it said.
According to the group, companies are "responsible" as "many threats and attacks against land and environmental defenders occur after communities voice their concerns about companies and their projects affecting their rights, including to their land."
It added that governments are also to blame because they "have been all too willing to turn a blind eye and fail in providing their core mandate of upholding
and protecting human rights."
"States around the world – from Liberia and Sri Lanka to the Philippines – used the COVID pandemic to strengthen draconian measures to control citizens and close civic space. With journalists, activists, campaigners, and academics confined to their homes, and the freedom of press under renewed attack, the scant pre-pandemic protections that defenders had are under increasing strain," it added.
For Greenpeace Philippines Country Director Lea Guerrero, the killings and persecution of environmental activists, even amid the pandemic, "shows distorted priorities that put profit and the gain of a few over the welfare of communities and the environment we depend on."
"Greenpeace believes that the work of environmental defenders is even more crucial now: we need to ensure a green, inclusive, and just recovery post COVID. We need to prevent government and businesses from pursuing misguided policies and projects that are destructive to the environment and climate," Guerrero said.