On the 1çth of August 2018, Gilbert Labial, member of the Compostela Farmer’s Association was gunned down by two unknown assailants on motorbikes.

Gilbert was an active defender of farmer, land and peasant community rights within the Philippines. His death is associated with his leading activism and participation against mining giants such as Agusan Petroleum that critically threatened indigenous Lumad land and livelihood.

Gilbert’s death is alleged to be the work of the agents associated with the increasingly militarized Duterte administration that is known to be hostile to such land, peasant and human rights activism within the region.