The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), NTF-ELCAC and paramilitary forces under the command of US-Marcos Jr. regime are guilty of unspeakable brutality, cruelty and extreme violence against the Filipino people especially against the peasant masses in the countryside. Bombings, murder, torture, eviction, military occupation, arson, landgrabbing, displacements, abduction, rape and illegal arrest and detention are standard military procedures to implement the enemy’s state terrorism. And the list goes on and on. State fascism continues unabated.
60 bombings and shelling under the US-Marcos II regime
AFP’s aerial bombings do not distinguish between military and civilian targets and constitute a war crime under International Humanitarian Law.
Currently, the AFP reportedly has 224 fighter jets being used in indiscriminate bombings of forests and civilian communities in the AFP’s obsession to “crush” the revolutionary movement.
Ang Bayan recorded at least 60 cases of bombing, shelling and strafing from July 2022 to June 2024. Thirty-two of these were aerial bombings including at least four large bombs using FA-50s, Super Tucanos and attack helicopters.
The highest number of bombings and strafings were recorded in Bukidnon, followed by Northern Samar, Abra, Kalinga, Cagayan and Aurora. There were also bombings in Oriental Mindoro, Western Samar, Misamis Oriental, Apayao, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Quezon and Camarines Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, Agusan del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Negros Oriental, Masbate and Samar.
In all cases, bombings were accompanied by shelling and extensive and prolonged military combat operations that are marked by widespread abuses and violations of rights of civilians.
Majority of the bombs dropped by the AFP missed their targets and instead hit farms, mountain communities and fields near civilian population.
Landgrabbing main cause of attacks on farmers and indigenous peoples
Most often the atrocities committed by the reactionary forces are done to satisfy the greed of big landowners and big businesses for the peasants and indigenous peoples’ land. The compradors and big landlords use the AFP, PNP and paramilitary thugs to evict the masses and grab their lands.
The terrorist campaign of repression by the US-Marcos Jr. regime in collusion with corporate and big landlords against the rural peasant masses continues to intensify. In recent weeks, cases of killings of farmers in Masbate, arrests in Palawan, and land grabbing and eviction in Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Cebu, and Iloilo have been recorded.
It is ironic that even during the observation last October of farmers and indigenous people’s month, attacks upon their rights continued unabated. An organizer was also abducted in Laguna and presented as a “surrenderee.” The reactionary forces of the AFP and PNP act as defenders and enforcers of the landgrabbing scheme of the Almedas, Gamboas, Villars and Yulos – among the country’s big compradors and landlords.
In Occidental Mindoro, police and military forces arrested 29 Mangyan Iraya residents of Hacienda Almeda in Abra de Ilog last October 18, including 17 elderly and 12 minors. Colluding with Pieceland Corporation, the Almeda family has been trying to seize the hacienda. This is not the first time that the indigenous people are violently driven away from their land.
In Laguna, the AFP’s 203rd IB abducted peasant organizer Fhobie Matias of the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan, on September 28 in Calamba City. Matias was meeting with Laguna farmers when abducted. After nearly two weeks, the 203rd IB announced that they have taken custody of Matias, claiming that she had surrendered.
State forces and private guards harassed and again attempted to evict residents and farmers in Barangay Viga, Angadanan, Isabela. The Gamboa family is grabbing 23.6 hectares of land that for 50 years has been tilled and inhabited by farmers who are members of the Panagkaykaysa ti Mannalon a Maag-agawan a Daga (Pumalag). The town police chief and administrator of Angadanan protecting the Gamboas interest ordered the private guards to confiscate and burn the farmers’ placards and streamers during a protest. A clash ensued and three farmers were arrested. The private guards threatened to destroy the farmers’ crops.
Thugs of Hacienda Borromeo repeatedly fired at the farmers of Barangay Pandacan, Pinamungahan, Cebu on September 23 during a protest. The members of Baybay II Farmers Association are opposing their eviction. They have been tilling the land for several generations.
In Iloilo, nine farming families in Barangay San Jose, San Miguel were forcibly evicted from their homes on October 2 by Communities Iloilo Inc, a subsidiary of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc, owned by the Villar family. The Villars are notorious for grabbing agricultural lands and converting them into subdivisions, which exempts the land from the the reactionary land reform program.
In Laguna, peasant residents of Barangay Casile, Cabuyao protested against the fencing of the 24- hectare land in the barangay on September 23 by the Emirates Security Agency and Santa Rosa Realty Development Corporation, owned by the Yulos. The fencing and threats from the guards prevented the farmers from tending to their crops. The Yulo family is one of the largest landowners in the province.
In Cavite, over 100 police and military personnel under the Task Force Ugnay of the 202nd IB-AFP again attacked and attempted to enter Lupang Ramos in Dasmariñas, Cavite on September 26. One month prior to this, state forces have repeatedly attacked the farm to break the unity of the farmers.
Brutality against women
Soldiers of the 16th IB-AFP raped at least three women in the province of Camarines Norte in recent months. Last September a woman was raped by a soldier of the 16th IB while two others served as lookouts. They also robbed the woman of PhP2,000 after committing their dastardly crime. In October, elements of the same battalion raped a student from Barangay Daguit while she was on the way to school. Forces of the 16th IB have a history of committing rape against women since it was first deployed in the province.
Soldiers stationed in different areas also engage in decadent activities such as drinking and public disturbance when they get drunk. They “befriend” and flirt with residents, even married women and minors. A girl was threatened when she refused courtship. Some who became pregnant, including minors, are simply abandoned when the involved soldiers are transferred to another detachment. They target the children of recognized leaders of indigenous communities.
Terrorism financing is the name of their game
Charges of “terrorism financing” have been filed against indigenous small business owner Marcylyn Pilala, a resident of Barangay Gueday, Besao, Mountain Province. Pilala, a store owner, is being charged for providing food, medicine, and other supplies to the New People’s Army. A similar case was filed against Alaiza Lemita, sister of an activist killed by the military during the March 7, 2021 Bloody Sunday. Lenville Salvador, former chairperson of the development organization Ilocos Center for Research, Empowerment and Development, was also charged with “terrorism financing.”
In Barangay Mapalacsiao, Tarlac City, four suspected military agents stormed the residence of Francisco Dizon, chairperson of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita, on October 18. Police and the 31st MIB also blocked one of the vehicles used by farmers from Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac City on October 18. The farmers were on their way to a gathering to commemorate the national peasant month. Leaders of mass organization, Mimi Doringo, Manibela’s Mar Valbuena and Regie Manlapig, Piston’s Mody Floranda and Ruben Baylon, were charged with violating BP 880 or Public Assembly for organizing a strike and protest.
Killings, harassments and sowing terror
Soldiers of the 2nd IB killed two farmers in Purok 3, Barangay Simawa, Uson in Masbate on September 26. The victims, Roger Clores and Ronnel Abril, were the 34th and 35th victims of the 2nd IB’s killing spree in the province. The village-folk refuted the military’s report that the two victims were killed in an encounter.
Meanwhile, the 62nd IB’s series of human rights abuses in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental was recorded. On November 5, 16 soldiers entered the home of Loring Geronimo in Sityo Ponong, Barangay Trinidad. They asked for her husband and child, pointed high-caliber guns at her and her grandson, and subjected the whole family to brutal interrogation.
On the same day, soldiers also illegally entered the home of Helen Bardok in Barangay Binobohan without permission while she was at work. On November 8, 62nd IB soldiers mauled 38-year-old farmer Boyet Ospar in Sityo Manlibod, Barangay Trinidad.
The AFP’s Illegal occupation and encampment in schools in barangays in Guihulngan City, Vallehermoso, and Canlaon were also reported. Military encampment in civilian schools is a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
On September 9, state forces set up checkpoints at the entry to the Lupang Ramos in Dasmariñas City. The following day, 50 military and police elements forcibly entered the community on the pretext of inspecting cases of “African Swine Fever”. The community was again raided on September 17. On September 9, four police cars parked for several hours before Lupang Tartaria. It was accompanied by a 6×6 truck of soldiers with three roof-mounted guns, and three V150 military tanks.
Fascist military, police and paramilitary forces relentlessly sow terror and violate the rights of minorities and the downtrodden masses in the barangays and communities of Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur. Since 2018, the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (SFB) and their lackey CAFGU units forcibly established an additional 15 detachments in Andap Valley Complex (AVC) communities in Surigao del Sur. Four of these communities are in Barangay Diatagon in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
Meanwhile, the 75th IB established a total of 11 detachments– three in Barangay Mahaba in Mari‐ hatag, two each in the barangays of Buhisan and Hanipaan in San Agustin town, two in Barangay Bol‐ hoon, one in Barangay Libas in San Miguel, and one in Barangay Carasan in Tago. The 3rd SFB built four detachments at the border of Surigao del Sur and Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur. Two of these are in Barangay Mabuhay, and one each in the barangays of Libertad and San Lorenzo.
The atrocities and grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the reactionary forces of the US-Marcos II regime continue unabated. But the Filipino masses, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army are courageous and resolute in their fight against the horrible atrocities of the state and the ruling classes. They are determined to persevere in advancing people’s war to free them from the oppression and exploitation of the present social system. And they will be victorious!
source: NDFP