There is no military, legal or moral justification for the relentless bombardment carried out by the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro last January 1 that killed three Mangyan-Iraya children and terrorized entire Mangyan communities. Reports suggest that the AFP dropped at least 12 bombs and conducted aerial strafing in the area. These bombings and indiscriminate firing against civilians are tantamount to war crimes, and the NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children hold the 203rd IB and Marcos Jr. as their commander-in-chief, directly responsible.
Under International Humanitarian Law, the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution are absolute. The bombing of areas where the Mangyan national minorities live constitutes a blatant and deliberate violation of these principles. The deaths of the three children, two youth, and now the AFP’s continuing refusal to release an unarmed civilian in their custody expose that the AFP’s so-called “counterinsurgency operations” are in essence indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
These attacks are grossly disproportionate, and the AFP knew fully well and yet deliberately ignored that Mangyan-Iraya children and civilian families would be in the areas they were bombing. But they proceeded regardless.
Since the time of war criminal Gen. Jovito Palparan, Mindoro Island has been turned into a permanent killing field, with the 203rd IB at the center of systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. For decades, Indigenous Mangyan communities have been subjected to indiscriminate bombings, enforced evacuations, food blockades, the military occupation of civilian spaces, the harassment, and interrogation of children, and the routine collapse of the distinction between civilian and combatant. Under the current Marcos Jr. regime, Mindoro is effectively under de facto martial law, marked by constant troop deployment, aerial bombardment, checkpoints, surveillance, and restrictions on movement – conditions under which Mangyan communities, and especially children, continue to be treated as expendable in an ongoing counterrevolutionary war against the people.
We demand the immediate cessation of all AFP military operations in Mindoro, including aerial bombings, combat patrols, and so-called “clearing operations” that continue to place Mangyan communities in grave danger. The de facto state of martial law in the island must stop.
We further demand the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, whose continued detention under the custody of the AFP forms part of a broader campaign of repression against those defending the rights of indigenous communities. We warn the Marcos Jr. government and the AFP that the international community is watching closely, and that those responsible will have their day of reckoning.
The NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children will continue to monitor, document and expose these violations of IHL and children’s rights committed in Mindoro, and will pursue all available avenues to hold perpetrators accountable. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the three Mangyan-Iraya children and to all victims of militarization in Mindoro.
Coni Ledesma, NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children