The Teduray Tragedy – a Rappler series
This reporting project was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.
In October 2022, landslides triggered by heavy rainfall during Severe Tropical Storm Paeng buried alive at least 27 Teduray residents living in a resettlement area at the foothills of Mt. Minandar in Barangay Kusiong in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Rappler’s monthslong investigation into the tragedy revealed that the shoreline homes that the Tedurays (non-Moro indigenous peoples) were forced to vacate two years earlier in 2020 have since become private resorts, one of them allegedly owned by a local official’s daughter.
This investigative series, also called “The Kusiong Story Project,” traces both the environmental and political factors that created the disaster, and why the indigenous community remains homeless more than a year after the tragedy.
In this page, you will find links to the series, its accompanying documentary, and other stories related to the Tedurays of Kusiong.
Disaster in Kusiong landslides: How politics killed non-Moro IPs
Forced to vacate their shoreline homes in 2020, Teduray residents were buried in mud after fatal landslides triggered by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng hit them in October 2022. Private resorts have since taken over, one of them owned by a political family.
When fighting for ancestral lands hits a dead end
Since 2005, the Tedurays have been lobbying for the government’s formal recognition of their ancestral domain. The urgent priority should be the approval of an IP Code to address these land issues.
DOCUMENTARY: How politics killed non-Moro IPs in the Kusiong landslides
In the village of Kusiong in the Southern Philippines, landslides killed at least 27 Teduray. Local politics played a role in the tragedy.
Ma’am Jo’s killing was a nightmare. Her dreams for the Teduray tribe are alive.
Jocelyn Palao, a feisty and progressive IP leader, knew the dangers of fighting for Teduray land rights. She did it anyway.
Newsbreak Chats: Revisiting the Teduray tragedy in Kusiong
In this episode of Newsbreak Chats, Rappler investigative head Chay Hofileña talks with Rappler environment editor Jee Geronimo, journalist Raizza Bello, and Rappler creative head Emil Mercado on the investigative report on the Teduray tragedy
The Green Report: The art of Rappler’s stories on the Teduray tragedy
In this episode of The Green Report, environment editor Jee Geronimo and reporter Iya Gozum talk to Rappler graphic artists Marian Hukom and DR Castuciano about the artistic process of creating the visuals of the two-part investigative stories on the Teduray
IP advocates, experts discuss policy gaps after Rappler reports on Teduray tragedy
The urgent need for a Bangsamoro non-Moro indigenous peoples code and more effective risk assessment policies are brought up in two closed-door briefings
Gov’t should use scientific data in hazard maps – Lagmay
This would reduce deaths during disasters, says NOAH Center director Dr. Mahar Lagmay
No Senate hearing on Kusiong landslide since Tedurays wouldn’t appear – Padilla
Members of the Teduray tribe, however, had already landed in Manila when they were told the Senate hearing had been canceled
Displacement of Tedurays shows deeply-rooted issue of political dynasties, says journalist
‘The story of the Teduray in the coastal communities of Kusiong is also the story of our fishermen here in Luzon. It is the story of our country, of the lack of land, space, and the absence of a home,’ says journalist Raizza Bello
– Rappler.com