Media Quote
Responding to news on civilians killed during an armed encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director, Ritz Lee Santos, III, said:
“It is shocking that after almost 60 years of AFP’s counter-insurgency measures against the CPP-NPA, it is still failing to protect civilians caught in the crossfire or prevent communities from being displaced. Until now, no administration has been able to establish an independent investigation, with the end goal of prosecuting those allegedly responsible for crimes committed during armed encounters, whether from the state or non-state actors.
It is shocking that after almost 60 years of AFP’s counter-insurgency measures against the CPP-NPA, it is still failing to protect civilians caught in the crossfire or prevent communities from being displaced.
Ritz Lee Santos, III, Section Director
“The encounter in Salamanca, along with other AFP counter-insurgency operations not fully reported in the news, continue to cause human suffering on an unimaginable scale. The ongoing lack of justice and accountability prolongs the suffering of communities amid intensified military operations in the countryside. Civilians living in areas identified by the AFP as NPA hotspots are caught in an unending cycle of indiscriminate armed attacks.
“Government forces, led by NTF-ELCAC and recently DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, accuse communities of supporting rebel insurgency, a blatant practice of red-tagging which President Marcos, Jr. continues to condone. These accusations have already resulted in escalated deaths and destruction to marginalized, mostly under-privileged communities. A number of innocent civilians have been affected by conflict-induced destruction of their livelihoods. These communities are living in constant fear for their lives.
“Recent reports of armed encounters in Samar and Zamboanga also raise concerns about the security of human rights defenders and community leaders in these areas. The government’s counter-insurgency policy has failed to differentiate between NPA fighters and activists and human rights defenders belonging to legal organizations. Under the doctrine of command responsibility, a superior officer may be held responsible for extrajudicial executions committed by those acting under their authority if the superior officer did not take all reasonable measures to prevent such acts or ensure that they were investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
The government’s counter-insurgency policy has failed to differentiate between NPA fighters and activists and human rights defenders belonging to legal organizations.
“The AFP must take accountability for the civilian deaths in Toboso and elsewhere. The NTF-ELCAC must be abolished for fostering a climate of fear among civilians, human rights defenders, and journalists alike. Amnesty International Philippines calls on the Marcos Jr. government to provide protection to people at risk of being targeted, and to immediately and unconditionally initiate prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigations into all killings. The President must urgently endorse the Human Rights Defenders Protection Bill, condemn the practice of red-tagging, and end the senseless killing of our youth involved in the fight for social justice and protection of basic human rights.”
Background
On 19 April, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) launched a counter-insurgency operation in Brgy. Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental against the Communist Party of the Philippines – New Peoples’ Army (CPP-NPA). Nineteen individuals were reportedly killed in the encounter including UP students, Alyssa Alano and Maureen Santuyo, community journalist, RJ Ledesma, Filipino-Amercan activists, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem, and two minors. The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was quick to commend the AFP troops involved in the armed encounter tagging all 19 victims as suspected members of CPP-NPA.