“Marcos Jr.’s so-called ‘amnesty program’ serves only to cover up the AFP’s (Armed Forces of the Philippines) atrocities in a desperate attempt to meet their constantly shifting deadline of ending the New People’s Army (NPA),” stated the National Democratic Front of the Philippines International Office (NDFP IO) in response to the recent press conference of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
“True enough, the NTF-Elcac and its military leaders gleefully capitalized on Marcos Jr.’s amnesty offer to deodorize its own reputation after several United Nations rapporteurs have unequivocally called for its abolition,” added the NDFP IO.
According to the NDFP IO, the Marcos Jr. administration was using the newly passed amnesty program for ‘former rebels’ to present “the illusion of reconciliation” and “distract from the carnage unfolding in the Philippine countryside.”
The statement cited the recent incidents of aerial bombardment documented in Maria, Ilocos Sur and Pilar, Abra last April 2 in addition to several others in Bohol, Bukidnon, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Negros Occidental, Quezon, and Panay in the first three months of the year.
The NDFP IO further slammed the Marcos Jr. administration for its “brazen use of aerial bombardment” in violation of international humanitarian law. The group explained “aerial bombing campaigns inherently lack precision and discriminate poorly between legitimate military targets and civilian populations, resulting in the disproportionate and indiscriminate loss of civilian lives and property. Such tactics, utilized by the AFP, demonstrate a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution enshrined in international laws governing the rules of war.”
In response to the new deadline to defeat the NPA by the end of 2024, and the inconsistent figures on the strength of the armed group announced during the press conference, the NDFP IO said the administration’s “ever-changing deadlines and inconsistent figures on the NPA’s strength however reveals their utter failure to end the armed resistance of the Filipino people.”
Prior to this deadline, Marcos Jr. himself issued a statement declaring “there are no more NPA fronts” early January which was rebutted a few days after by Gen. Romeo Brawner who said the NPA still has “eleven weakened fronts.”
“As long as landlessness, joblessness and widespread poverty exists, the roots of armed conflict will remain and the NPA will continue to surge in strength,” the NDFP IO concluded.