[STATEMENT] Justice for the New Bataan 5! Justice for our environmental advocate Chad Booc!

Today, February 24, as we mark the 4th anniversary of the tragic deaths of volunteer teachers Chad Booc and Gelejurain Ngujo II, community health worker Elgyn Balonga, and two community volunteer drivers—otherwise known as the New Bataan 5 [1], Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan (GBK) solemnly honors their memory and the deeper truths their life of service to the people reveals. 

Their mission was to serve the Lumad population—teaching, uplifting, and standing in solidarity with Lumad communities. On February 24, 2022, the five volunteer Lumad teachers and community workers were killed by elements of the 1001st Infantry Brigade of the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in New Bataan, Davao de Oro. 

Among them was 2022 ‘Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan’ Most Distinguished Awardee Chad Booc, a cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines – Diliman who dedicated his life to volunteering for the Lumad youth under the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) [2]. 

Booc, after the forced closure of Lumad schools under directives of former president Rodrigo Duterte, returned to Manila to help organize the Lumad’s Lakbayan, which led to the foundation of the Save Our Schools Network. He also established the Lumad Bakwit School, a makeshift education system for displaced Lumads, where he taught mathematics. Chad’s dedication remained unwavering even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and onwards, leading a volunteer teaching program in Cebu, organizing fellow teachers, and developing the curriculum while actively participating in protests for Lumad self-determination. 

As a climate justice advocate even beyond the classroom, Chad also bravely mapped mining plunder in the country to expose environmental injustices and amplified the voices of communities resisting exploitation of their lands and its consequent militarization. His life embodied the ideals of stewardship, compassion, and unwavering commitment to both people and the planet. 

However, amid increasing state violence and impunity under Duterte’s regime, Booc faced numerous incidents of red-tagging, death threats, and harassment. He and his colleagues were ultimately murdered by state forces while on their way back to Davao City from their field research and community visit, receiving multiple gunshots, which forensics later described as being fired with “intent to kill.” And as expected from the AFP’s pattern of disinformation campaigns, the five were immediately subjected to red-tagging and terror-tagging by state personnel to ‘justify’ their kills.

The murder of Chad Booc and the rest of the New Bataan 5 add piling evidence on the recurring role of armed state forces, led by the AFP, as the topmost threat against environmental defenders. These attacks against environmental and human rights defenders grow rampant and remain an ongoing issue, putting the Philippines as one of the most dangerous countries both in Asia and in the world for green advocates.

Today, as the pre-trial on Duterte’s crimes against humanity during his violent all-out “war on drugs” and extrajudicial crimes against the Filipino people takes place at the International Criminal Court [3], we remember and call for the urgent accountability and justice to be brought to light in the name of all the victims of political harassments, forced disappearances, and murders and massacres under his tyrannical regime. The New Bataan 5’s case of ongoing impunity and injustice, four years since their death, reminds us of our continued calls for systemic protection for everyone who dedicates their lives to the communities and the environment. 

We shall continuously honor Chad Booc as a hero of the environment. His spirit of service transcends death and continues to inspire new generations of activists, educators, and defenders. His unwavering dedication to education, indigenous rights, and environmental justice lives on—and shall serve as an inspiration for us to persist in the struggle for human rights and environmental protection.

#DefendTheDefenders #JusticeforChadBooc #JusticeforNewBataan5