The bloody campaign of the Marcos regime to end communist insurgency produces the cold blooded murder of innocent farmers in the countryside and militarization of rural and hinterlands communities, a press release from Human Rights Advocates Negros said.
In Negros Island, six battalions of Philippine Army and thousands of para military like CAFGU, SCAA, RPA, and ex rebels were deployed against “negligible remnants of CPP NPA.” For the past six months, the Marcos regime murdered Jose Caramihan, Marlon Catacio, Jigger Bartolo, Jeje Redobles and Richard dela Pena, Dionesio Baloy, and Bernard Torres.
Negros remains the laboratory of government counter insurgency programs and the operation plans implemented in the island are replicated around the country, the statement said.
In addition, more and more farmers and farmworkers are thrown into jails. With 127 political prisoners, it represents 16 percent of the 755 political prisoners nationwide, and most of them are victims of trumped up charges and illegal arrests.
An alarming trend under Marcos is the use of twin terror laws – anti terrorism act of 2021 and Financing Terrorism Prevention and Suppression Act to judicially harass activist and civil society groups.
In the 3rd State of the Nation Address of Marcos, we expect no human rights concern will be part of his speech much like in the previous one. Not only because he deliberately intends not to mention it given the sensitivity to his family and the dismal records of his father, but also he has done nothing to improve it.
We call on the Negrense Congress members to provide a venue for human rights and progressive groups to directly talk to them and discuss such issues in their office and not merely the clapping actors in the Congress halls.
We urge the people to stand up and resist state sponsored terrorism, the statement ended.*
