Acta Populi

2020-09-05 07:11:19

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2025-07-20 03:50:43

PRWC » The US-Marcos Regime’s Continuing Violence

After three years of bloody rule, the Marcos regime is now further intensifying its fascist repression of the Filipino people. Bloodshed and increasing cases of human rights violations in the name of counterinsurgency continue. It is obsessed with destroying the Filipino people’s patriotic and democratic aspirations and struggles, and ending their revolutionary resistance. It serves the interests of foreign monopoly capitalists, big comprador bourgeois, landlords, and bureaucrat capitalists.

To spotlight the intensity and extent of the regime’s brutality and echo the people’s cry for justice, Ang Bayan (AB) issues this report highlighting the long trail of abuses and human rights violations committed by Marcos’s armed minions in the last six months (January to June of this year). The report involves fascist personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), paramilitaries, and other armed agents of the reactionary state.

This report is based on information AB has reported, gathered, and analyzed.

Because the regime’s intensified repression made it more difficult to send reports, many cases in the countryside went unrecorded. The report also does not include many cases of human rights violations against the Moro people which have not been publicized.

AB uses international standards in estimating the number of victims of evacuation and militarization, and in the number of affected children.

Policy of repression

The Marcos regime’s main policy enforced in the first half of 2025 is the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD) 2025-2028 in the Philippines. This policy became the framework for intensified political repression against the Filipino masses. The regime began preparing this refurbished policy last year.

The NAP-UPD was officially approved through Memorandum Circular No. 83, series of 2025, issued by the Office of the President. The memorandum ordered all government agencies to implement the plan as part of the “whole-of-nation” and “whole-of-society” approach to “resolving problems caused by the revolutionary movement.” The NAP-UPD is based on the National Security Policy 2023-2028 and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.

This policy designates itself as a “strategic blueprint” to destroy the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front by 2028. The National Task Force-Elcac, established by the Duterte regime, is the main enforcer of the new policy.

In line with this policy, the AFP and PNP are waging a rampaging dirty all-out war against the Filipino people in the cities and the countryside. State fascist terrorism persists, along with continued subservience to US imperialism and suppression of patriotic and democratic forces.

Despite repeated claims by the US, the AFP, and Marcos himself regarding the supposed “pivot” of the country’s armed forces from “internal defense” to “external defense” after having “weakened” or “defeated” the NPA, the bulk of the AFP remains in the countryside and guerrilla fronts. They persistently claim that only seven weak guerrilla fronts remain, but thousands of military, police, and paramilitary forces remain focused on counterinsurgency.

Congruent with the NAP-UPD, Marcos continues to weaponize the Anti-Terrorism Law, now in its fifth year, and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act to harass and silence critics and those vocal against his regime, including ordinary citizens. The regime targets its so-called “CPP-NPA-NDFP legal fronts” to supposedly “stop recruitment, cut off financial support, and counter propaganda.” This policy systematically violates the rights of sectors to organize.

In the countryside, intensified militarization and occupation of communities continue through focused military operations (FMO) and occupation of villages in the guise of Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP). These operations mainly target civilian or unarmed peasant farmers for military violence and repression. Concurrent with these are indiscriminate aerial bombings, strafing, and shelling of farms and mountains which endanger civilians and destroy the environment.

Where military fascist terrorism have been most intense, large mining businesses, plantations, ecotourism projects, and other forms of plunder and community displacement soon follow. Military operations also serve to “secure” certain areas for US and Philippine war games.

The NTF-Elcac relentlessly implements the “return to the fold” program and deception using fake amnesty offers in the countryside. This combines with campaigns of intimidation, forced “surrender” of civilians, and plunder of public funds. In April, the Marcos regime funded the creation of a “former rebel” organization to use against the Filipino people.

As in the last three years in power, the Marcos regime wantonly commited violations of the rules of war—such as deliberate killing of wounded combatants, murder of civilians in staged “fake encounters,” and infliction of suffering on entire communities during AFP combat operations.

Human rights violations

Ang Bayan records 180,074 victims of human rights violations by the US-Marcos regime from December 10, 2024, to June 30 (203 days). AB recorded 239 incidents of human rights violations nationwide.

There are, on average, three victims of political killings every month. There is also one victim of abduction and two victims of torture every month. In the past six months, seven people survived attempted killings by state forces.

As in previous reports, most of the victims are peasants (176,940), followed by children (2,273) and urban poor (2,237).

In the three years of the Marcos regime, AB has recorded a total of 3,321 cases, victimizing at least 688,313. Over the past three years, an average of 628 fell victims to human rights violations each day under the Marcos regime.

Extrajudicial killing, frustrated killing, and torture

At least 24 people fell victim of political killings nationwide in the past six months. Most incidents occurred at the height of focused military operations (FMO) and RCSP by soldiers and police in peasant and indigenous communities. Killings took place in Oriental Mindoro, Masbate, Negros Oriental and Occidental, Capiz, Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar, Leyte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, and Sarangani.

As in the past, the AFP claims having killed victims in “encounters.” To make them appear so, the corpses are dressed up, planted with firearms, ammunition, and other military items, then dumped in different locations. The AFP disseminates this false information despite strong denials from families, neighbors, and even local village council officials.

The victims include five hors de combat (fighters incapacitated by injury or illness), and non-combatants or retired members of the revolutionary movement. AFP executioners captured and deliberately killed them, instead of declaring them prisoners of war or charging them in court. The bodies also showed signs of torture.

Massacres. The report period recorded three cases of massacre: one involving an entire family, another involving three farmers, and the third involving the massacre of hors de combat.

In Agusan del Sur, 26th IB soldiers mercilessly massacred the Gomansil family at the banks of the Dayuman River, Barangay San Vicente (Balagnan), Esperanza on December 15, 2024. The executioners killed the couple Toto and Toni Gomansil and their daughter Celine. They accused them of having links to the NPA and the revolutionary movement in the province.

Before the crime, the Gomansil family even asked the soldiers stationed at a nearby detachment for permission to work at their farm. Despite their “request,” the soldiers followed them and tied up Toto and Toni. They subjected the couple to intense interrogation and repeatedly asked if there were NPA members in their community, which the couple denied. The soldiers also asked for Celine’s husband, whom they accused of being an NPA fighter.

After this, the soldiers stabbed the couple to death. Celine managed to run after witnessing her parents’ killing but the soldiers swiftly shot her. The soldiers even violated and hacked Celine’s remains into two.

In Northern Samar, 8th ID soldiers gunned down three farmers in Barangay Nagoocan, Catubig on June 8. The military portrays the three as among five people killed in their armed encounter with the NPA. The victims were identified as Noel Lebico Sr, Arnel Aquino, and Nonoy Norcio.

Lebico was a resident of Barangay Roxas in Catubig, Aquino came from Barangay Osmeña in Palapag, and Norcio was from Barangay Luneta, Gamay. Their villages and towns of residence have been under de facto martial law since 2020. The victims have already been experiencing harassment and military abuses prior to the incident.

Earlier, the three refused to join the 8th ID’s forced surrender program.

Killing of a minor. The 63rd IB killed 16-year-old Jayson Grafil Padullo by indiscriminate firing on June 15 at Sitio Bagong Barrio, Barangay Pinanag-an, Borongan City, Eastern Samar. Jayson’s fellow residents in Barangay Benowangan firmly testified that he was a civilian. According to them, he had just enrolled in Grade 7 and was set to attend classes that June.

The victim and another youth were at a field outside the sitio when soldiers conducting operations fired shots at them. Jayson died from gunshot wounds, while his companion managed to escape.

Killing of hors de combat. The AFP and the Marcos regime blatantly disregard the rules of war. Killings of hors de combat were recorded in the Negros Oriental and Occidental, and Leyte provinces.

In Negros Occidental, soldiers abducted and deliberately killed Nonoy Ponteras (Ka Jojo) and Marisa Pobresa (Ka Kim). On March 7 at 8 p.m., Crime Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) operatives and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel abducted Ponteras and Pobresa from a house in Bacolod City. They were forced into van and taken to an unknown location, where they were ultimately killed.

Marcos’ butchers brought the two bodies to Sitio Paraiso, Barangay Caduhaan, Cadiz City. The next day, local military spokespersons disseminated lies that the two died after 1 a.m. in a clash between the 79th IB and the NPA.

Ponteras was an NDF-Negros leading official and Pobresa was an NDF regional office administrator. Their responsibilities included consulting with workers, farmers, farm workers, the poor, and other oppressed sectors on the island to help them assert their concerns and advance their struggles.

In Leyte, the 93rd IB killed three unarmed, incapacitated NPA members on June 18 in Barangay Cogon, Carigara. Juanito Selleca Jr (Ka Tibor/Ka Rey) and Sadam Paclita (Ka Dimple) were recovering from ailments when soldiers attacked and shot them. Lino Delante (Ka Dodong), a medic caring for the patients, was killed with them.

The NPA members were not armed because they were patients. The manner of the killing clearly showed the soldiers’ outright intention to kill the three, since they could have easily captured them as prisoners of war.

Deaths due to trauma. Lolita Reman died in Sitio Toril, Barangay Bandila, Toboso, Negros Occidental in May because of extreme fear and trauma from the 79th IB’s operations. Soldiers raided and ransacked the Mahusay family house, where she was staying in Sitio Toril, at 5 a.m. on May 20.

A similar incident occurred in Barangay Minapasok, Calatrava. Farmer Boyet de Asis suffered a stroke on May 23 after seven 79th IB soldiers and traitors to the revolution threatened him.

Death in detention. An ailing political prisoner from Quezon died on December 25, 2024 because of the criminal neglect of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City. Hilario de Roxas, a farmer from Catanauan, Quezon, died from a stroke.

De Roxas was a senior citizen suffering from hypokalemia (a condition where potassium in the body drops), pneumonia, and hypertension. Police and soldiers arrested him, on criminal charges, in General Luna, Quezon, on February 12, 2020.

He was transferred to NBP on September 30, 2024 from Gumaca District Jail and Quezon District Jail (QDJ) in Pagbilao town. While detained in Quezon, de Roxas suffered a mild stroke and various health complications.

Ang Bayan also recorded seven victims of frustrated killing. The military units involved in these cases, fearing an ambush attack, fired wantonly at anyone they encountered in the forest or on the road. At least 23 people suffered torture at the hands of soldiers.

Arrest, abduction, and threats, harassment, and intimidation

AB recorded 31 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of no fewer than 73 victims, mostly peasants. Reactionary officials filed various fabricated cases against the victims to prolong their detention. The usual charges filed against them included illegal possession of firearms and explosives, murder and attempted murder, terrorism, and “terrorism financing.”

Some of them experienced deliberately delayed processing of court documents to prevent their immediate release. Others, especially those in the provinces, were illegally detained in military camps without a court order and prohibited family visits.

While in detention, arrested individuals were made to face “former rebels” who tried to coerce them into recanting and working for the state. Authorities also used the families of those arrested and detained to pressure the detained relatives to “surrender.”

Arrest for standing up for land rights. Police arrested five members of the Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mangingisda sa Barangay Taltal (SAMMBAT, Association of Farmers and Fishers of Barangay Taltal) when they opposed the demolition of houses on the 32-hectare land in Sitio Togue, Barangay Taltal, Masinloc, Zambales on June 19.

Led by Sheriff Roy Mendones of the Provincial Sheriff’s office, along with around 70 police officers and SWAT personnel, the demolition team stormed the community. The police detained SAMMBAT spokesperson Neil Edward Geroca, secretary Claire Elfalan, and members Elmer Nollas, Elmer Madarang, and Alex Mose. They secured their release after several days of posting bail.

Arrest of anti-demolition barricaders. Police arrested four residents of Mayhaligue Street in Barangay 262 and 264 in Zone 24, Tondo, Manila for barricading against the demolition of the community on May 26. Residents asserted that the demolition had no legal basis and violated their rights.

The case of the Agusan 8. Elements of the 66th IB, 67th IB, and the police arrested 11 individuals at a checkpoint in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur on the night of June 13. Charisse Bernadine Bañez, Ronnie Igloria, Louvaine Erika Espina, Sinag Lugsi, Larry Montero, Daryl Man-Inday, Arjie Guino Dadizon, Grace Niknik Man-aning, Leo Taba, and two drivers were traveling from Monkayo, Davao De Oro when they were stopped at the checkpoint. According to the group’s report, police forced them out and made them lie prone on the road for hours.

The victims stated that the state forces had no reason to arrest them. They asserted that the charges were fabricated and that authorities only planted firearms and explosives supposedly found in their possession. The military and police searched the vehicle without a warrant, confiscated their belongings, allowed the group to stand up only after two hours, then claimed to have found weapons and explosives. They were taken to the police station in Bunawan.

On the morning of June 14, the victims discovered that Taba and the two drivers were missing from their group. That same day, soldiers also prevented paralegals and human rights groups from approaching or talking to the detainees.

Delayed release. The report’s coverage recorded cases of deliberately prolonged and delayed processing of documents and papers which prevented the immediate release of political prisoners. One such case was that of Rey Irvine Malaborbor.

On June 23, Malaborbor was scheduled for release after six years in prison when personnel from Metro Manila District Jail Annex 4 (MMDJ4) blocked his release and returned him to jail. The jail staff said that a subpoena arrived for Malaborbor for an arson case that allegedly occurred in 2019 in Mindoro. The subpoena did not even bear Malaborbor’s name.

Malaborbor is an activist and member of the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK, Federation of Peasant Associations in Southern Tagalog). The 76th IB elements arrested and charged him with fabricated cases of illegal possession of firearms and murder on July 27, 2019 in Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro. He was also accused of being a New People’s Army member.

Malaborbor only gained full release from jail during the first week of July.

5 years of the Anti-Terrorism Act. With the implementation of the repressive Anti-Terrorism Act and the related law against “terrorism financing,” Karapatan records show 227 individuals were charged, while 34 were arbitrarily designated as “terrorists” by the Anti-Terrorism Council.

Of those charged, 30 remain in jail. One documented victim was convicted through a plea bargain with the state. This victim faced 55 counts of involvement in “terrorist financing.”

Attacks at the height of the midterm elections. Patriotic and democratic candidates who ran in the May midterm elections faced relentless attacks. Senators and party-list candidates from the Makabayan Coalition, as well as local candidates, became targets of blatant repression in the form of Red-tagging, surveillance, and threats. Even Makabayan’s supporters were not spared from this repression.

Vote Report PH data indicate that these comprised 4.83% of the total 6,064 reports of rights violations and anomalies during the election. The most serious among these was the abduction and subsequent detention of a Bayan Muna Party-list campaigner in Batangas.

The 59th IB abducted Pauline Joy Banjawan on April 26. Human rights groups traced her on April 28 at the police station in Santo Tomas, Batangas. The groups learned that before authorities brought her to PNP-Santo Tomas at 9 p.m. on April 27, she had already experienced physical and mental torture at the hands of the 59th IB. She was then charged with a criminal case to justify detention.

AB also recorded 17 abduction victims over the past year. There were cases in Isabela, Rizal, Batangas, Sorsogon, Masbate, Negros Oriental and Occidental, and Agusan del Sur. State forces surfaced some of these victims, while the military presented others dead. The authorities claimed they died in encounters.

Among those surfaced alive, some were charged with fabricated cases and detained. Others remained in military custody and were presented as “surrenderees.”

AB also recorded at least 891 victims of threats, harassment, and intimidation. This number is significantly higher if one includes the thousands of individuals paraded and forcibly “surrendered” by the military as NPA members or supporters in both urban and rural areas. In forced “surrender” cases, the military often used aid distribution as an opportunity to take photos of residents and then claim that they had “surrendered.”

Military terror in communities

In their desperate goal to “crush” the New People’s Army in the countryside, or supposedly “prevent their return,” AFP and PNP combat operations scour many rural communities. Battalions of military and police forces continue to occupy numerous communities of peasants and national minorities.

AB recorded at least 2,060 victims of forced eviction and displacement. Imposed harsh food and economic blockades affected up to 171,066 residents. The records include nine incidents of aerial bombing, strafing, and encirclement.

Bombing in Mindoro. The 203rd IBde conducted aerial strafing and bombing in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro on March 1. The attack terrorized farming and Mangyan-Hanunuo communities.

Residents reported that the first wave of aerial gunfire from two blackhawk helicopters occurred at 10 a.m. in Sitio Lomboy, Barangay Panaytayan. The helicopters returned at around 2:30 p.m. and dropped four bombs while relentlessly strafing the adjacent sitios of Lomboy, Abaka, and Matarayo.

The executioners carried out aerial terrorism after the 4th IB’s fabricated battle with NPA-Mindoro. No NPA-Mindoro units were present in that area on that day.

The bombing also affected other nearby communities of Buol, Amaga, Tangkulang, Salay, and Proper, all under Barangay Panaytayan, as well as the sitios of Puyuhan and Badi under neighboring Barangay Teresita.

The bombing in Mansalay followed aerial strafing and bombing in the town of Pola on February 19.

Strafing in Bukidnon. The 88th IB rained bullets on civilians in Sitio Bendum, Barangay Busdi, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon on April 19. One civilian sustained critical wounds and was rushed to the hospital. The civilians were only searching for agarwood when soldiers allegedly misidentified them as New People’s Army members.

US war games’ devastation on livelihoods. The imposition of “no-sail zones” by the local government and US troops directly affected the livelihoods of fisherfolk to pave the way for war games and live-fire exercises. Authorities implemented this in April and May in towns of Ilocos, Zambales, and Cagayan, reportedly impacting at least 28,000 fisherfolk. This constitutes food and economic blockade which violates human rights..

Justice!

The Filipino people collectively clamor for justice for all human rights violations victims under the US-Marcos regime. Various forms of expression and struggle broke out over the past year to give voice to victims and their families.

Groups and victims of the war on drugs tirelessly demand Rodrigo Duterte to be held accountable for his crimes against humanity. They welcomed the International Criminal Court’s arrest and detention of Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity on March 11. The victims resolutely stand against the Dutertes’ attempts and maneuvers to allow and grant him interim release. They are also strengthening the call for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC.

Human rights groups also conducted fact-finding missions as a form of resistance and call for justice. In Mindoro, various groups, including Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, bravely confronted and resisted the 203rd IBde’s military harassment and violence that tried to prevent them from conducting a fact-finding mission on the island from February 23 to March 1.

The team specifically visited the municipalities of Pola, Bulalacao, and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro which generated reports of a series of human rights violations following encounters between the 203rd IBde and the NPA-Mindoro in February. Upon arrival on the island, undeclared martial law was already imposed in these barangays.

Through continuous campaigns and perseverance of families and lawyers, several political detainees won their release due to lack of evidence from fabricated charges filed against them.

These include the release of organizers from Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), John Griefen Arlegui and Anakbayan’s Reynaldo Viernes, on February 4 after more than six years in prison. Lumad rights defenders Julieta Gomez and Niezel Velasco also walked free on April 8 after four years.

Strikes and collective actions by workers and unions demanding wage increases, workplace rights, and to win new collective bargaining agreements (CBA) also gained prominence last year. Notable actions include strikes by workers and unions of Nexperia Philippines Inc and Kawasaki Philippines.

People and human rights defenders continue their militant struggle to relentlessly fight the Marcos regime’s brutal rule. From legal and extra-legal efforts to armed actions by the New People’s Army, the people are determined to fight to defend their rights and achieve justice. They expose, criticize, and hold Marcos accountable for policies of repression and state terrorism.

source: NDFP

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PRWC » The US-Marcos regime’s continuing violence

Introduction After three years of bloody rule, the Marcos regime is now further intensifying its fascist repression of the Filipino people. Bloodshed and increasing cases of human rights violations in the name of counterinsurgency continue.

^{admin (National Democratic Front of the Philippines)}

Acta Populi

2020-09-05 07:11:19

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