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Peace advocates urge freedom for Fernandez, Lagtapon

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‘Frank’s life would be better used in peace-work and dialogue, rather than have him languishing behind bars’

A church-based peace advocacy group called on the Philippine government to free National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon after their conviction of illegal gun possession last June 29.

In a statement, the group Pilgrims for Peace (PfP) said they were surprised at the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 266’s verdict, more so that both Fernandez and Lagtapon were elderly and under medical treatment.

“As peace advocates, we continue to clamor that the golden years of Frank’s life would be better used in peace-work and dialogue, rather than have him languishing behind bars,” PfP’s statement said.

“This is especially so as his conviction is alleged to have been orchestrated using manufactured evidence, planted at the time of his arrest,” the group added.

PfP cited the couple’s defense that they were already under custody hours before their announced arrest and were in fact taken to and from a military hospital to have their photos taken with planted evidence of guns and explosives at the house they were staying in.

The couple was arrested in Barangay Calumpang, Liliw, Laguna on March 24 2019 while undergoing medical treatment with their caretaker Ge-Ann Perez, herself a Hansen’s Disease patient.

Like other NDFP peace consultants and companions arrested before and after, the three were alleged to be in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Supposedly immune from arrest

The PfP statement was signed by former Iglesia Filipina Independiente Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang, Roman Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, Sr. Maureen Catabian of the Religious of the Good Shepherd and Dr. Mike Pante of ACT for Peace.

Fernandez was among several Roman Catholic priests who left active priestly duties to join the underground revolutionary movement during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. government in the early 1970s.

He served as a long-time spokesperson of the NDFP in Negros Island.

In 2017, Fernandez was included in the reconstituted list of consultants and resource persons that was deposited with the Bishop of Utrecht, the head of the global Old Catholic Church communion, in accordance with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

With JASIG Document of Identification Number PP 978544, Fernandez should be immune from arrest, detention, threats and harassments, the NDFP said when he was arrested in 2019.

The 75-year old Fernandez is suffering from chronic artery disease, chronic stable angina, hypertension stage 2-uncontrolled, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hyponatremia, among other illnesses.

The 65-year old Lagtapon also suffers from various illnesses brought about by advancing age.

“As a peace consultant of the GRP-NDFP peace process, we urge for respect of Frank’s JASIG protection as well as humanitarian considerations given his advanced age,” the PfP said.

“Let us continue to pray for former priest, now NDFP peace consultant, Frank Fernandez… Let us pray the peace processes can resume so that genuine peace can take root in our country,” the group urged further. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NUPL asks Teodoro to uphold duties of lawyers

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‘Anti-terror charges vs rights defenders alarming’

Human rights lawyers asked national defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro, himself an attorney, to uphold their duties as counsels to their clients.

In a hand-delivered letter in front of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City Friday, July 7, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) urged Teodoro to respect the United Nations Basic Principles of on the Role of Lawyers in the context of protecting the human rights of their clients as well as promoting justice.

The five-page letter is accompanied by a separate letter by Nieves Lizada, mother of human rights defender Mary Joyce who is detained at the Philippine Army’s (PA) Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

The letters were handed out to a representative of the Office of the National Defense Secretary.

The event was accompanied by a protest action by human rights workers from Southern Tagalog and Metro Manila.

Southern Tagalog human rights defenders demand the freedom of two of their colleagues. (NUPL photo)

‘No rule of law’

The NUPL cited the case of Mary Joyce and Arnuldo Aumentado who are being denied access to their lawyers; the case of sugar farm workers Alfred Manalo, Lloyd Descalar and Angelito Balitostos who were abducted by government soldiers; and Southern Tagalog (ST) youth rights defenders Kenneth Rementilla, Jasmin Yvette Rubia, and Halley Pecayo who were harassed and red-tagged by the PA.

Called the Mansalay 2, Mary Joyce and Aumentado were investigating the shelling of a Mangyan community in Oriental Mindoro province when arrested by the PA last April 25.

Despite two previous consultations with their lawyers on June 3 and June 28 in Camp Capinpin, the two have since been denied time with their counsels and have yet to be taken to a civilian jail even after indictment from a regional trial court.

In their letter, the NUPL also complained of the harassment of their members from the Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA) who responded to requests for assistance for sugar farm workers Manalo, Descalar and Balitostos, also called the Balayan 3.

A certain Lt.Col. Ernesto Teneza filed a complaint against the SENTRA lawyers at the Commission on Human Rights IV-A office despite being responsible for blocking the lawyers’ access to the farm workers.

The NUPL also said the ST youth rights defenders were harassed on two special occasions in the PA’s efforts to prevent them from investigating the killing of 9-year old Kyllene Casao by soldiers of the PA’s 59th Infantry Battalion.

‘As alter ego of the Commander in chief’

In their letter, the NUPL called on Teodoro to exercise his supervision over the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as the following demands:

  1. Those arrested, detained and imprisoned are provided opportunities to consult with a lawyer without delay, interception or censorship and in full confidentiality;
  2. Lawyers are allowed to travel and consult with their clients freely and without threats and prosecution;
  3. The military should refrain from filing trumped-up charges of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses against human rights defenders; and
  4. Officers and commanders of the 2nd Infantry Division and the 4th and 59th IBs be investigated for possible liabilities in the incidents mentioned.

“We hope that you will take these calls as a challenged to balance your tasks of guarding the country against security threats with the imperative of fulfilling the Philippine government’s obligations to respect human rights and international humanitarian law,” the NUPL wrote.

The lawyers’ group said 13 Anti-Terrorism Law charges have been filed against rights defenders and other civilians throughout the region.

In her own letter, Lizada asked Teodoro to immediately free Mary Joyce or be transferred without delay to a civilian jail.

There was no immediate response to the letters from Teodoro’s office. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Environmental group reports PH gov’t not acting on anti-climate change commitments

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The year-old Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government continues to implement anti-environment projects that cause displacement and other disastrous impacts of climate change, an environmental group told the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) said large-scale mining, land reclamation and large dams being implemented under the Marcos government are causing ecological imbalance, weakening climate resilience in the Philippines.

In an interactive dialogue, CEC executive director Lia Mai Torres reported that such projects and policies are still in place despite the Philippine government’s declarations supportive of global climate change mitigation programs.

“Aside from the continuation of climate risk projects, Filipino environmental human rights defenders are not optimistic about the prospects of genuine climate action based on the principles of climate justice in the remaining five years of the Marcos Jr. administration, given the 12 cases of killings of environmental advocates and climate activists that have already occurred,” Torres said.

CEC’s intervention in the dialogue highlighted that “while important, addressing climate displacement should not preclude addressing the issues and vulnerabilities that cause displacement and other disastrous impacts of climate change.”

CEC reported that a Philippine government representative in the dialogue said that the Philippines’ disaster risk reduction and management favors interventions related to disaster displacement that are respectful of human rights.

CEC however belied the assertion, pointing out that there are no existing policy instruments in the Philippines, like many countries, that directly address climate change-induced migration.

“We are ill-equipped and poorly prepared to face internal migrations and disruptions due to climate change, much less the possible influx of climate refugees from neighboring countries.”

The dialogue entitled “Providing legal options to protect the human rights of persons displaced across international borders due to climate change” had UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry and Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions Morris Tindall-Binz in attendance.

The dialogue was an event in the ongoing 53rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council at the Palais des Nations in the Swiss city.

A report presented at the dialogue said that 38 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes in 2021 while 22.3 million people were displaced by weather-related events in the same year.

Among the conclusions of the dialogue was that “the Paris Agreement should develop funding arrangements to assist persons displaced across international borders due to climate change to address their vulnerabilities.”

The CEC called on fellow Filipinos and the international community to keep a watchful eye on the Marcos Jr. administration and continue ensuring ecological balance is achieved by preventing environmentally damaging and destructive activities.

“[The Philippines must be] gearing away from false climate solutions, shifting away from the neoliberal model that facilitates the hyper-extraction by foreign interests of our natural resources, and addressing systematic inequality and poverty that strips away our capacity to adapt to climate disasters,” Torres said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Health care in PH remains unbalanced, groups tell UN

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Health groups reported at the United Nations (UN) that access to health care in the Philippines remains inequitable despite digital innovations and technological breakthroughs in the sector.

Dr. Joshua San Pedro of the Coalition for People’s Right to Health (CPRH) and Council for Health and Development (CGD) said problems on the lack of health infrastructure remain in the Philippines.

Speaking at an interactive dialogue at the ongoing 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland last June 22, San Pedro added that shortfalls in health human resources as well as inadequate State funding for public health have yet to be addressed.

With UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng in attendance, San Pedro said governments must adequately fund public health and systematically reverse privatization of health services.

This is to ensure a safe environment for patients and health workers, increase monitoring systems for human rights violations, create mechanisms for accountability, and enact laws that will comprehensively address health inequities, he added.

The Free National Public Health System Bill is pending at both houses of Congress in the Philippines that may help address these concerns in combination with breakthroughs in digital innovations and technology in local health care, San Pedro said.

Harassment of health workers

San Pedro also raised concerns on the harassment and intimidation, red-tagging and surveillance of health workers who criticize government shortcomings in health care delivery.

“[A] climate of fear persists among health workers whose freedom of speech and association are constantly challenged,” San Pedro said.

In response, Mofokeng said that surveillance of vulnerable populations and groups is not in line with the right to health approach and businesses must not interfere with the right to health and human right.

Taking note of inequalities gravely aggravated in a pandemic, Dr. Mofokeng remarked that a pandemic treaty without a human rights approach and human rights foundation will not yield the desired equitable outcomes.

The UN expert added that scientific development is a public good and the rights-based approach is key to ensuring availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of diagnostics, screening test, therapeutics, vaccines, surgical procedures as well as sexual and reproductive health programs. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Young political prisoner regains freedom ‘with a smile’

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Ge-Ann Perez, 24, was all smiles when she stepped out of a 4-year political imprisonment at the Female Dormitory of the Taguig City Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa last Friday night, June 30.

She was carrying all her jail-acquired possessions in two small shoulder bags, a small plastic box and a plastic bag containing what appears to be a basil plant that she must have taken care of in prison.

But getting out of jail was not as smooth for Ge-Ann. She was mistakenly given a dark red shirt to wear when she stepped out of the gate, a prohibited color if she is to be allowed exit through Camp Bagong Diwa’s many gates to her freedom. So she was asked to change into a stripped black and white before being handed her Certificate of Discharge by the jail guards.

Ge-Ann Perez (center, in striped shirt) holding her Certificate of Discharge with Kapatid well-wishers and a jail guard. [Kapatid photo]

Ge-Ann was just 20 when she was arrested together with National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon on March 24, 2019 in Liliw, Laguna.

Ailing with Hansen’s disease, she was under medical treatment while staying with Fernandez and Lagtapon in the town’s famed cool springs and clean air. The elderly couple are themselves ailing with various grave lung and heart ailments and Ge-Ann was their caretaker.

When arrested, they were first taken to a hospital for a medical check-up and later taken back to the house where they were staying for photo documentation of their arrest. What greeted them were a cache of guns and explosives Ge-Ann said she knew nothing about.

Last Thursday, a Taguig court convicted Fernandez and Lagtapon of illegal possession of firearms while Ge-Ann was judged innocent, a victim of incidental arrest.

Perez (left) arriving at a court trial with Frank Fernandez (center) and Cleofe Lagtapon (right). [Kapatid photo]

Her mother Erlinda said in a 2020 video documentary that Ge-Ann suffered discrimination from her jail guards and fellow inmate because of her ailment. She was one of 22 petitioners in Kapatid’s April 2020 Supreme Court petition for the humanitarian releases of the medically vulnerable elderly and very sick prisoners.

The petition was remanded to the lower courts, effectively stonewalling its course. Ge-Ann had to suffer four long-years of trial to regain her freedom.

On Friday night, Ge-ann’s release was facilitated by her lawyer, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer’s Jun Oliva. Also there were members of political prisoner support group Kapatid who just came out of a meeting with the jail warden. Kapatid said Ge-Ann was greeted by applause and not a few tears.

Perez with Kapatid well-wishers [Kapatid photo]

According to Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim, Ge-ann plans to go for her long-delayed checkup at the Philippine General Hospital before going back home to her family in Cebu. She will be assisted by the International Committee of the Red Cross in her travel back to Visayas.

Kapatid said Ge-Ann hopes to resume her studies and go to college to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a teacher. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Rights defenders at UN: Violations continue amid worsening economic crisis in PH

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Filipino rights defenders urged the United Nations (UN) anew to investigate violations in the Philippines at the ongoing 53rd Human Rights Council (HRC) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Representatives of organizations Center for Environmental Concerns, Coalition for People’s Rights to Health, Council for Health and Development, IBON Foundation, Kilusang Mayo Uno and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said abuses and lack of accountability are continuing under the year-old Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presidency.

The human rights violations are happening amid worsening economic crisis, the groups that are part of the Philippine Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Network said.

The organizations reported it participated in interactive dialogues with UN Special Rapporteurs reporting before the UN HRC on the issues of physical and mental health, protection and promotion of human rights in the context of climate change, and the independence of judges and lawyers.

NUPL chairperson Edre Olalia (left) in a side event at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. (Supplied photo)

They added they have talked to other UN experts, working group members and their representatives, including those on enforced disappearances; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; peaceful assembly and of association; independence of judges and lawyers; climate change; right to food; business and human rights; and on leprosy.

“Beyond the optics and rhetoric of the Marcos Jr. administration, we come once again to the UN to hold power to account by presenting our data and recommendations,” NUPL chairperson Edre Olalia said.

Olalia added that their reports can serve as an alternative to State-backed narratives on the rights of the Filipino people.

In March, Philippine government representatives formally accepted select recommendations made by UN HRC member states at the 4th cycle of the UPR of the country’s human rights record held last November.

The Philippine UPR Watch said that there is lack of progress on civil and political rights violations in the country, adding there remains the absence of significant measures to address “deeply-rooted problems.”

The groups said these include problems on wages and job-security, precarious and hazardous work, poverty and inequality, ill health and poor services, and environmental distress and climate change.

“By failing to install robust mechanisms and staunch guardrails to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in the Philippines, those who raise dissent or dare challenge State narratives face harassment, intimidation, red-tagging, surveillance, or death,” the delegation said in a statement.

“The lives of countless workers, lawyers, judges, health workers, environment defenders, and development workers are senselessly taken, and basic democratic rights are continuously attacked with impunity,” Olalia further explained.

The human rights lawyers however said these fuel their resolve to tirelessly make their voices heard by the international community and to ask them to investigate injustices in the Philippines.

The 53rd Regular Session of the UN HRC is ongoing from June 19 to July 14. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Taguig Court convicts NDFP’s Frank Fernandez, wife Cleofe Lagtapon of illegal gun possession

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon were convicted of illegal possession of firearms by Branch 266 of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC), human rights group Karapatan reported.

Karapatan said that while the couple were acquitted from additional charges of illegal possession of explosives and violation of the elections gun ban at the time of their arrest, they were found guilty of what they asserted was the first of three “trumped-up charges.”

Their companion Ge-ann Perez, arrested and charged along with the elderly couple, is acquitted of all charges by the court.

The three were arrested in Barangay Calumpang, Liliw, Laguna on March 24 2019 and, like other NDFP peace consultants and companions arrested before and after, were reportedly found to be in possession of firearms, ammunition and grenades.

READ: PNP surfaces NDFP’s Frank Fernandez

At the time of their arrest, then Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde claimed they found three caliber .45 pistols, three magazines with 15 live bullets and three grenades were in the couple’s possession.

They were then charged with violation of Commission on Election (Comelec) Resolution 10429 in relation to the Omnibus Election Code as well as violation of Republic Act 10591 (Illegal possession of firearms) and violation of Republic Act 9516 (Illegal possession of explosives), the PNP said.

A Roman Catholic priest, Fernandez took leave from his church in the 1970s, went underground and became a long-time NDFP spokesperson in Negros Island prior to their arrest.

The NDFP said Fernandez should not have been arrested as he is protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees between them and the Manila government with Document of Identification Number PP 978544.

Karapatan condemned the Fernandez and Lagtapon’s conviction, adding it supports the couple’s assertion that the trove of grenades and guns used against them were planted by arresting authorities.

The group said it was absurd that two elderly and sick individuals had the items in their possession.

Fernandez’ medical abstract by the Philippine Army General Hospital immediately after their arrest said he suffers from chronic artery disease, chronic stable angina, hypertension stage 2- uncontrolled, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hyponatremia, among other illnesses.

Fernandez is 75 years old while Lagtapon is 65.

READ: Philippine Army holding Frank Fernandez incommunicado

“The inconsistencies in the details of their arrest based on the accounts of the arresting authorities further reveal this glaring travesty of justice,” Karapatan said.

“We reiterate the call for the immediate release of the Fernandez, Lagtapon and Perez, and all political prisoners subjected to these forms of political persecution,” Karapatan added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Fausto massacre is latest in AFP’s kill list of Negros children, underground group says

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An underground organization of revolutionary women has accused the Philippine government of being unconcerned over the rights and welfare of children in Negros, saying the killing of Ben Fausto (15) and his brother Raven (12) are just two of a long list of victims in the island.

The Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan – Negros (MAKIBAKA-Negros) said that aside from the massacre that killed the Fausto children in Himamaylan City last June 14, three other minors have been killed by the military since 2021.

MAKIBAKA-Negros identified Aldren Faburada (17 ), Everly Kee Jacolbe (16), and Christopher Montecino (17) as the other victims in the hands of government soldiers.

“Focused military operations and the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) in the countryside have brought trepidation for people’s lives and security, particularly for children,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said in a statement dated June 19.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)-allied organization said Faburada was severely beaten and killed by the 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) last March 15, 2021. The child was earlier red-tagged as an NPA member when he was only fetching his school module from their hut near the encounter site at Sitio Kansampo, Brgy. Bagtik, La Libertad, Negros Oriental.

Like the Faustos, Jacolbe was massacred along with her pregnant mother and a relative by the 62nd IB at Sitio Banderahan, Brgy. Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental last July 26, the group said.

Montecino was killed with his father Pedro when the 94th IB assaulted locals of Sitio Cunalom, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City on September 11, 2021, MAKIBAKA-Negros alleged, adding the soldiers red-tagged Christopher in front of the media as an NPA “child warrior” who had surrendered.

‘Justice for the Faustos’

The AFP denied killing the Faustos, expectedly counter-accusing the New People’s Army (NPA) for the massacre instead.

PA’s 303rd IB commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin said earlier they themselves condemn the Fausto massacre and vowed to “spare no effort to pursue justice for the victims and their families.”

“[W]e will closely coordinate with the Philippine National Police to fast-track the resolution of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Edralin added.

Edralin claimed it was the NPA that killed the Faustos as it suspected the victims to have become spies for the military.

The general added that accusations the 94th IB brutally killed the family are “nothing but an attempt by the desperate NPA to tarnish the reputation of the Army in the province.”

“[They] quickly blame the Army without proof to mislead the people and to hide their guilty hands,” Edralin said.

An early incident report of the Fausto massacre of the human rights group September 21 Movement however pointed out that Emelda Fausto has reported harassments and attacks by the army unit prior to June 14.

Subsequent statements by church leaders and various organizations also said Roly Fausto had been repeatedly tortured and forced to serve as guide by the soldiers in an all-night military patrol days before they were killed.

‘Even babies are not spared’

MAKIBAKA-Negros said intense AFP operations have been indiscriminately showered bullets and bombs on peasant communities, ransacked houses, illegally arrested innocents, coerced civilians to surrender, and abducted and murdered civilians.

The group said these military strategy causes fear, anxiety, sorrow and anger in the minds and hearts of the people and their children.

“Trauma develops among children upon witnessing the lives of their father, mother, siblings and relatives taken away. In every destroyed home and each family victimized by state fascism, one to a thousand children are deprived of freedom to live as well,” the group said.

The NDFP in Negros monitored 17 cases of human rights violations by military troops on the island directly involving children, mainly by the 62nd IB and 94th IB, the group recalled.

“These were cases of extrajudicial killing, harassment and threat, indiscriminate firing and bombing, attempted abduction, forced surrender, and illegal detention,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

“Military troops occupying schools also cause intense fear as children and their teachers function as human shield for chicken-hearted soldiers. It disturbs the children’s education and places the community in danger,” the group added.

The women’s group also reported that 3rd Infantry Division troops also targeted and attacked babies and children they suspect are sons and daughters of NPA fighters, such as the 79th IB’s kidnapping of Baby Marx Cairo Salino, a two month old infant of guerillas taken from his caretaker on January 13, 2021.

The baby is reportedly currently with the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) of Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

“Despite the rights of Baby Marx’s family to claim and care for him, the fascist and merciless personages of the CSWD and military stubbornly insist that the freedom of Baby Marx depends on their decision,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

Last May 14, the 11th IB arrested a couple and their one-month old baby in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental over suspicions they were NPA members, the group said.

It added that 94th IB also chased after and attempted to abduct four children, aged one to two years old, in different barangays of Himamaylan City in 2022.

MAKIBAKA-Negros also expressed concern over reports that the 11th IB placed a P50,000 bounty on a two year old child of a Red fighter couple under the NPA’s Rachelle Mae Palang Command in Southeast Negros. The soldiers wish to use the child as hostage to coerce the parents to surrender, it added.

“This [3rd] Division of the Philippine Army is notorious for employing similar dirty tactics in warfare wherein children are used as bait to force the surrender and capture of their parents or relatives,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

The group said it welcomes the announcement of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to hold an investigation of the recent killings. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Mission reports AFP responsible for Fausto massacre, other killings

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A national solidarity mission reported government soldiers were responsible for the killing of the Fausto family and other farmers in Negros Island.

Visiting Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental last Thursday, June 22, to independently probe into the recent killings of farmers in the province, Kabataan Party Rep. Raoul Manuel and members of progressive organizations said state forces are committing and actively covering up human rights violations in the province.

In a press conference Friday, the mission said it found a “similar pattern” in the killing of four members of the Fausto family last June 14 and the killing of farmer Crispin Tingal last May 3.

READ: CHR urged to probe killing of a farmer in Negros Occidental

“It (was) a culmination of a series of harassment, destruction of properties, violation of domicile, illegal search and red tagging that was similarly inflicted on the Tingal family who barely escaped a pattern of attacks, from red tagging to massacre,” the mission said.

In their visit to Himamaylan, the mission reported that the military and the paramilitary with blocked out nametags tried to block their way to Barangay Buenavista but said they were able to document several human rights violations committed by the military and the police.

The mission said the residents reported there have been at least three incidents of frustrated killings; three incidents of illegal arrest; a case of enforced disappearance; threats, harassment and intimidation; violation of domicile; destruction of livelihood; use of public space for military purpose; endangerment of civilian populace; attacks on schools and disruption of classes for two weeks after a military attack; and indiscriminate firing and red tagging.

‘None of it new’

The mission’s press conference and announcement came a day after Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Lacson, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police (PNP) held their own press conference announcing they have witnesses to prove the New People’s Army (NPA) was responsible for the killing of the Fausto family.

Himamaylan City police chief Reynante Jomocan said they have “judicial affidavits” from witnesses claiming 15 armed men killed the family, led by an alleged NPA squad leader.

Mission participant and Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) chairperson Ariel Casilao however dismissed the police and military’s claims, saying reports on the ground say otherwise.

“Stories of coercion, in which witnesses are forced to testify and follow a script provided by the PNP to paint the NPA as perpetrators, have been shared with us. And sadly, none of this is new: what happened to the victims and survivors of the Sagay massacre—blamed for the very attack perpetrated on them—is a testament to the PNP’s same old modus operandi,” Casilao said.

Mission participant and Iglesia Filipina Independiente Negros Occidental Bishop Virgilio Amihan said they are heartbroken by the growing numbers of widows and orphans due to “the devastating impacts of extrajudicial killings” that affect families and communities in his diocese.

“As shepherd of the flock, we call to bring it comes of the brutal and barbaric killings of the Fausto’s and put the perpetrators behind bars to end the widespread EJK in the Island of Negros,” said Bishop Amihan.

The Faustos were IFI members.

Official investigations

Kabataan Party Representative Raoul Manuel announced that the Makabayan bloc has filed on June 19 House Resolution 1091 calling on the House Committee on Human Rights to investigate the massacre of the Fausto family.

Manuel said that the resolution is the first filed by Makabayan on the civilian killings in Negros, saying that even without a formal declaration, martial law is practically in effect in the militarized areas of the island.

The mission also urged the Commission on Human Rights, the House of Representatives and the Philippine Senate to conduct an impartial investigation of reported human rights violations in Negros.

“(We call) for an end to “the relentless attacks on farming communities not only in Himamaylan and Kabankalan but in the whole Negros Island,” the mission said.

“Families experience loss of livelihood, severe trauma, especially among children, and a grave violation of their freedom of association. Farmers who cultivate the land and feed the nation deserve peace, justice and the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor,” it added.

Bishop Amihan added that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) must resume peace negotiations.

“Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law violations in the GRP-NDFP armed conflict create many victims…Let us move forward to the negotiating table and resume the resume the GRP-NDFP Peace Talks,” Amihan urged. # (Raymund B. Villanueva, in Bali, Indonesia)

Negros Bishop pleads for justice for Faustos; NDFP accuses AFP as child killers

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San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said they mourn the “horrifying” deaths of the Fausto family killed last Wednesday, June 14, in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental allegedly by government soldiers.

In a petition released last Sunday, the prelate in neighboring Negros Oriental said he implores local and national government institutions to ensure justice for the victims and hold accountable those responsible for the massacre.

Brutally killed in their hut were Roly Fausto (55), his wife Emelda (50) and their children Ben (15) and Ravin (12) who had been repeatedly red-tagged and by the military weeks before their deaths.

Quoting a report by local human rights group September 21 Movement, Alminaza joined many organizations in identifying the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion as alleged perpetrators of the “heinous act.”

READ: IFI Bishop, groups denounce massacre in Negros

“Our hearts are heavy as we witness the escalating militarization under the current (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) administration,” Bishop Alminaza said.

The bishop also blamed Executive Order 70 issued by former president Rodrigo Duterte institutionalizing the so-called whole-of-nation approach in the government’s counter-insurgency program and creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for the incident.

“The’ whole-of-nation approach’ advocated by the (NTF-ELCAC) has led to the weaponization of ‘red-tagging’, armed harassment, and senseless killings,” Alminaza said.

Alminaza offered a prayer as a plea for justice in his petition.

‘AFP are child killers’

Meanwhile, the Special Office for the Protection of Children (SOPC) of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as child killers for the deaths of minors Ben and Ravin.

NDFP-SPOC head and NDFP Negotiating Panel member Coni Ledesma, a native of Negros Occidental, said her office vehemently condemns the “brutal massacre” by the said military unit.

“This heinous act is a blatant violation of the rights of the child and the special protections under international humanitarian law,” Ledesma said.

Ledesma said child rights violations have sharply increased under the Marcos Jr. government with reports of kidnappings, threats, forced evacuation, violence and murder.

In Negros Island alone, the NDFP has documented at least 22 cases of state violence involving children between the period of 2020 to 2022, Ledesma said, citing a special report by the Communist Party of the Philippines’ official organ Ang Bayan.

“The killing of the Fausto children and their parents exposes the AFP once more as lawless and mindless child killers. As commander-in-chief of the criminal, corrupt and brutal AFP, Marcos II is directly responsible for its war crimes against the Filipino people,” she said.

Ledesma also criticized the AFP for its penchant to blame the New People’s Army (NPA) for its reported crimes against civilians.

Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Battalion commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin told reporters in a briefing last Thursday it was the NPA that killed the Faustos.

Edralin claimed that Roly had become a military asset prior to his death.

“Pinning the blame on the NPA is an old and tired tactic the AFP uses to escape accountability for its crimes against the people. Confirmed reports stated that on 22 March, both Emelda and Rolly Fausto were interrogated and harassed by military agents,” Ledesma however said.

“Even prior to the incident, the AFP has red-tagged the Fausto family, slaughtered their livestock, and ransacked their property in attempts to force admission of ties to the NPA,” she added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)