The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) revealed that only 10 of the 19 casualties in the April 19 Toboso, Negros Occidental carnage were New People’s Army (NPA) fighters while the rest were civilians.
“Determination of status, circumstances of engagement, and proportionality must be based on verifiable facts and due process. In case of doubt, persons shall be presumed civilians,” the CHR said.
Groundwater brimming with excess nutrients and other contaminants is quietly flowing into the ocean, posing a threat to vulnerable reefs
It now appears that militarist factions in the regime want a “no quarter” policy consistent with the US Counterinsurgency (Coin) Guide. This means no prisoners are taken and anyone in the “conflict zones” is fair game, with the remains of the fatalities mutilated, their faces unrecognizable.
Kai Sorem, a musician and activist, was among those killed in what human rights and church organization organizations described as a “prolonged and indiscriminate firing” by 79th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army troopers that also displaced more than 800 residents.
Like journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, University of the Philippines student councilor Alyssa Alano and peasant organizers and advocates Maureen Santuyo and Errol Wendel, Prijoles was slain by “indiscriminate firing and strafing” by government soldiers, BAYAN-USA said.
Hundreds of residents participated in Roger Fabillar’s funeral on Thursday, braving probable military surveillance and possible retaliation as the late New People’s Army leader was laid to rest in Toboso, Negros Occidental.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Tanggol Magsasaka (Defend Farmers) said peasant organizer Maureen Keil Santuyo and community researcher Errol Wendel were among the 19 victims in what the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported as a 12-hour gunfight with the New People’s Army.
In a 50-page decision signed today, April 23, the ICC said Duterte committed with his co-perpetrators a common plan or agreement to “neutralize” alleged criminals through violent means including murder. His co-perpetrators include incumbent senators Ronald de la Rosa and Christopher Lawrence Go.
The NPA said 79th IBPA’s narrative is a “desperate piece of fiction…quick to parade a tally of 19 casualties, claiming each was an armed combatant.”
