Progressive groups hold a protest on International Human Rights Day in front of the Fountain of Justice in Bacolod City.*Bayan Negros photo
The human rights situation in Negros Island has worsened under the Marcos administration, progressive groups claimed in a statement issued during International Human Rights Day on Saturday, December 10.
“The new Marcos regime seems to relish in continuing this legacy. Not even six months into his term, there is continued hamletting of far-off peasant communities, where the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other state mercenaries fabricate ‘encounters’ with alleged rebels to justify the displacement of civilians,” local chapters of Bayan and Karapatan said in a statement.
In Himamaylan City, they said that “more than 15,000 civilians were forced to evacuate and leave their homes while the Armed Forces of the Philippines continued indiscriminately firing at their homes, shelling mortar canons and howitzers, and stealing the masses’ livestock.”
They also claimed that the militarization has led to more than seven peasant and civilian killings in the countryside.
The Army and other paramilitary groups have also shown no regard for international humanitarian laws by murdering people considered incapable of fighting, they said, citing the deaths of New People’s Army ranking leader Romeo Nanta alias Ka Juanito Magbanua, National Democratic Front peace consultant Ericson Acosta, and peasant organizer Joseph Jimenez.
The Army has denied such allegations.
“This shows how this administration has no interest in resolving the roots of the armed conflict here in the country. That is why we continue to call for the resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front,” they said.
There are also intensified cases of red-tagging and threats on mass leaders even in the city centers, they also said.
“We continue to call for justice for all the victims of human rights violations, and for the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners, more than 120 of which are in Negros Island alone. With such dire human rights situation, on top of the intensifying economic crisis and state corruption, the masses of Negros are being left without a choice but to fight back,” the groups said.