A hundred political prisoners in Negros Island will hold another 24-hour fast on Friday, April 19, to call on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) National Office to press on with its initial efforts for a thorough and impartial investigation on the numerous human rights violations in Negros since July 2022, which are widely-believed to be an integral part of the Marcos Jr.’s counter-insurgency drive in the island.
This was announced by the families and friends of political prisoners organized under the Negros Occidental chapter of Kapatid, or Kapisanan para sa Pagpapalaya ng mga Detinidong Pulitikal sa Pilipinas in a press release Thursday.
Political prisoners in Negros island number no less than 128 as of April 1, or about 16 percent of the country’s current total.
The CHR in Negros Occidental revealed on March 9 that its efforts to investigate the growing number of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the island is being stymied by the lack of cooperation by various units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Negros, the press release said.
It has been 40 days since the said constitutional body made that damning admission, yet until now, the families of victims of these heinous crimes have not been given even the barest minimum attention they deserve from the government, it added.*