Underground publication reveals Marcos Jr.’s violations of rules of war
The Philippine government has no right to host an international conference on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) after killing 78 New People’s Army (NPA) fighters, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) cadres and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants in cold blood and committing other violations of the rules of war, underground revolutionary publication Ang Bayan reported.
On IHL Day today, Ang Bayan released its special report detailing war crimes committed by the Manila government it said belies claims made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that his administration abides by the rules of war.
The Philippines is hosting the four-day Asia Pacific Regional Conference on International Humanitarian Law that started yesterday, August 11 to 14, in Makati City.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the conference is being attended by over 120 delegates from more than 30 countries where the Philippines is “bringing to the table a strong and enduring legacy of championing IHL.”
Ang Bayan however said there is absolutely no truth to Marcos Jr.’s claim of having improved government’s human rights record and that “there is peace in the Philippine countryside.”
The underground magazine said the Marcos Jr. is in fact in the thick of implementing his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody Development Support and Security Plan (DSSP) “Kapayapaan” program and his own Peace, Law Enforcement, Development Support (PLEDS) “Pagkakaisa” campaign.
“Like DSSP Kapayapaan, PLEDS Pagkakaisa puts under military control communities that lead to rights violations of civilians through the constriction of their right to livelihood and other means,” the CPP said.
The special report assessed Marcos Jr.’s first three years in office from July 2022 to July 2025.
The report said the Manila government and its armed forces have killed 78 individuals, including six NDFP peace consultants; abducted and disappeared six individuals; captured and kept in secret locations 13 others; forced and inhumanely detained two; implemented four cases of disproportionate violence that violate the principle of proportionality; and filed of trumped-up charges against 10 individuals, including the six consultants.
The report identified the six murdered consultants as Concha Araneta-Bocala, Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria-Tiamzon, Ariel Arbitrario, Rogelio Posadas, and Ericson Acosta. Except for Posadas, the victims actively participated in formal negotiations in Europe between 2016 and 2017 with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
NDFP consultants are supposedly immune from surveillance, arrest, detention and harm under the Joint Agreement for Safety and Immunity Guarantees between the NDFP and the Manila government.
The report also cited the case of Domingo Compoc who was shown in a photo to be alive when captured by the Philippine Army but was later peppered with bullets along with University of the Philippines alumna and law school graduate Hanna Cesista and three others in Bilar, Bohol in February 2024.
Another prominent victims mentioned in the report included long-time NDFP-Negros spokesperson Romeo Nanta, aka Ka Juanito Magbanua, the report said was also captured alive, tortured and summarily executed by his captors.
The report further revealed that the Marcos Jr. military have abducted three pregnant victims as well as two nursing mothers and their infants who are being used as hostages to force the surrender of their other parents who are active NPA fighters.
Six other NDFP consultants have been arrested under the Marcos Jr. administration, bringing the number of detained peace negotiators in jail to 15, Ang Bayan further reported.
Arrested peace consultants under Marcos Jr. include Ruben Saluta, Porferio Tuna, Simeon Naogsan, Wigberto Villarico, paralysis victim Tomas Dominado and Eric Casilao who are facing various criminal charges in courts across the country.
Ang Bayan said that those in detention are suffering inhumane treatment inside jails while the remains of those killed have been desecrated in yet more violations of the IHL. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
