Event Summary
On 17 December 2025, the ‘Talaingod 13’ received notice of the 27 November 2025 decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the July 2024 ruling of the Regional Trial Court criminalizing school operations of the Salugpongan Ta Tanu Ingkangonan Community Learning Center. Both decisions found merit in allegations that the Talaingod 13 exploited Lumad (indigenous peoples in Mindanao, Southern Philippines) students imposing a sentence of four years in prison. The ‘Talaingod 13’ refers to a group of 11 volunteer educators as well as two progressive politicians from the Bayan Muna party list, Satur Ocampo and France Castro, who were serving Lumad students affected by the armed conflict between the Philippine military and the New Peoples’ Army.
The cases were filed in connection with a solidarity mission undertaken by the Salugpongan schools in 2018 due to “mass school closures, forced displacement, and escalating militarization.” The Armed Forces of the Philippines were actively pursuing operations to close indigenous schools for alleged links to communist rebels, which the volunteer educators sought to intervene in to accompany indigenous children to safety.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) asserts in its official statement that the decision of the Court of Appeals affirms its stance that indigenous schools are a front of the New Peoples’ Army. The ruling thus reinforces the crackdown on indigenous communities and civil society actors working with these communities, including those defending the accused activists. In a Facebook post on Christmas eve, former Spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Antonio Parlade red-tagged Antonio La Viña for writing and publishing legal analyses supportive of the intetests of the Talaingod 13. The case sets a dangerous precedent of criminalizing humanitarian actions as warned by the Save our Schools network: “The ruling treated acts of protection, accompaniment, and vocation as criminal conduct.” Instead of recognizing it as humanitarian response, schools for displaced indigenous peoples are thus red-tagged and subject to vilification and harassment.
The case of the Talaingod 13 is a landmark case that is expected to proceed to the Supreme Court. If maintained, the Court of Appeals ruling reinforces the militarization of indigenous education and civil society engagement. Civil society actors have implored the Supreme Court to reverse the decision in line with its previous ruling declaring red-tagging, or the allegation of being associated with the New People’s Army, a threat to life, liberty, and security.