THE FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT FROM SAVE OUR SCHOOLS NETWORK MINDANAO DATED JULY 14, 2025
“One year after their conviction, the Talaingod 13 remain a symbol of how the state punishes
Indigenous teachers and volunteers for protecting their students and defending ancestral land.
On July 15, 2024, thirteen indigenous educators and community advocates were unjustly
convicted of child abuse for rescuing Lumad students from military and paramilitary threats in
Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
They were sentenced to four to six years in prison by Branch 7 of the Tagum City Regional Trial Court.
Their case is currently under appeal.
There were no complainants from parents or students.
Lumad children themselves testified in
defense of their teachers.
The case was pushed by state security forces, not by any harmed party.
It criminalized care, silenced educators and punished those who walked with the displaced.
This case is not about child protection.
It is about repressing indigenous education, punishing defenders and dismantling schools that empower students to resist development aggression.
Lumad schools are not threats- they are lifelines. They were created by communities who had
no access to public services.
They teach literacy, culture and self-detemination.
And they also teach students to defend ancestral domains from mining, illegal logging and militarized land-grabbing.
This is why they were red-tagged, raided and shut down.
Over 200 Lumad schools
have been forcibly closed since 2016.
Today, on the first anniversary of this injustice, we gather in prayer, protest and promise as
indigenous peoples and their allies: church leaders, community educators, environmental
defenders, legal workers, youth and faith communities.
We renew our panaad- -our sacred vow: to walk with the displaced, protect those under threat and defend the right to teach, learn and
live free.
This commemoration is part of Katungod Conference 2025, hosted by the Social Action
Center of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro in observance of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee
Year: Pilgrims of Hope.
We gather not only in remembrance but in movement-as pilgrims of justice, refusing silence in the face of land dispossession and state violence.
As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prepares to deliver his State of the Nation Address, we deliver
ours: the State of Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Defenders in Mindanao is one of
militarization, school closures, red-tagging and forced displacement.
Yet it is also a state of courage, cultural resistance and unwavering hope.
We urge the Court of Appeals to act with conscience.
Reverse the unjust conviction.
Deliver justice for the Talaingod 13.
We challenge the Department of Education under Secretary Sonny Angara: review and reinstate Lumad schools. Break your silence. Stand with Indigenous learners.
We call on the broader public-people of faith, civil society, educators, artists and international allies:
Uphold the truth. Stand with indigenous communities. Defend life, land and learning.
This appeal is about more than 13 individuals.
lt will shape how this country treats every indigenous educator, community school and
grassroots defender moving forward.
One year later, we are undeterred.
Our unity is deeper. Our vow is stronger.
Justice will not be denied.”
