ADVERTISEMENT
“The problem is that the framework of this task force [to end communist insurgency] provides no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, or activists belonging to organizations categorized as legal fronts [of the Communist Party of the Philippines].”
In his fourth state-of-the-nation address President Duterte didn’t say a word about the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that have shocked many all over the world. Just the week before, his government had been embroiled in a ruckus over the approval of a...
“The series of attacks threaten to undermine the country’s peace and order situation, the State’s failure to identify and punish the perpetrators further breeds a culture of impunity and violence."
"We call on all freedom-loving individuals and organizations to unite in holding the Duterte government accountable for turning Negros island into a killing field."
The CPP and NPA demanded the Duterte regime to abide by the Geneva Conventions and other international protocols and called on all of Duterte's forces to stop targeting and killing civilians.
“Those who were killed are persons; they are not just numbers or statistics! We fervently pray that we may not continue counting dead bodies; that every one of us will continue protecting human lives.”
Albayalde’s statement justifying Oplan Sauron reeks of impunity. Like Oplan Tokhang, the Philippine National Police wishes the public to regard as normal the butchering of civilians.
“It exposes that ‘hit lists’ often translate to killings.”
“His marching orders to pass the death penalty measures, on top of his bloody drug war and counterinsurgency speak of his ineffective and blatantly anti-people kill-kill-kill solution and policy framework."
Human rights group Karapatan documented 250 victims of extrajudicial killings and 10 victims of enforced disappearances from July 2016 until March this year. Moreover, nearly 370,000 civilians were affected by military bombings and 450,000 have evacuated due to military operations, Karapatan data showed.
While rural communities grapple with militarization, Metro Manila and other urban centers have also turned into bloodbaths due to Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs.”
In the past three years, close to 40 nations have been signing a resolution, initiated by Iceland, expressing concern over the rising number of killings related to President Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Initially they urged the Philippine government to stop the...
The documentation of the current attacks to peasant farmers and workers, particularly the killings of Negros 14 last March 30, seeks to spread awareness and urge people to stand against the oppression in rural communities.
Mervin Toquero of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) said that barring entry of UN investigators into the country would only prove that “this administration is hiding something.”
Ni JHIO JAN A. NAVARRO Siyam, isa, labing-apat, higit pa sa Sagay, Kabankalan, Sta. Catalina Guihulngan, Canlaon at kung saan pa nilingkis, kinalos ni Sauron sa bungkalan, tubuhan, tahanan sa harap ng asawa, anak, magulang-- tinadtad ng bala sa ulo, sa mata, sa...
“As the Duterte regime continuously intensifies its attacks, the killings and arbitrary arrests in Negros is setting a very dangerous precedence – that State forces can do whatever they want against poor peasants and communities, and brazenly promote tyranny and violence.”
Under the Duterte administration, 66 farmers and activists have already been gunned down.
The violence that erupt from time to time in Negros is but a painful reminder of the longstanding land problem and unjust system operative in Negros.
What we are witnessing is a war against civilians since Duterte assumed the presidency. He started with the thousands of poor drug suspects, using anti-drugs campaign as a veil. Now, authorities are mouthing anti-criminality and counterinsurgency for going after civilians.
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.