Groups condemn military killing of farmers, pregnant woman in one day  

MANILA, Philippines — Rights groups have condemned military personnel’s “disturbingly familiar script” in tagging the eight civilians it killed in a single day — on September 21 — as alleged members of the New People’s Army.

In separate statements, human rights group Karapatan and farmers’ rights group Amihan Peasant Women called for an investigation into the soldiers’ “brutal” killing of eight unarmed individuals in Negros Oriental and Masbate, whom the soldiers through government press releases later alleged were rebels.

On the 51st anniversary of Martial Law, two separate military operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines led to the killing of farmer couple Jover and Aimee Villegas in Masbate and the killing of a pregnant woman and six other civilians in Negros Occidental.

According to Karapatan, the farmer couple Jover Villegas and Aimee Villegas were shot while the former was feeding his carabao. 

The six other civilians massacred in Negros Occidental were aboard a tricycle and unarmed when the military fired at them, Karapatan said.

"Categorically labeling farmers as NPA (New People's Army) members merely to justify the state's killings of them is an outright falsehood," Zenaida Soriano, national chairperson of Amihan, said in Filipino. 

"This also constitutes a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which prohibits attacks on soldiers and civilians who are not directly involved in armed conflicts,” she said.

International Humanitarian Law calls for distinctions between civilians and combatants and prohibits attacks even on combatants who are no longer actively participating in the fighting, such as when they are wounded, sick, shipwrecked, or captured by the enemy. In such cases, these individuals are considered "hors de combat" and are entitled to protection.

Since the Duterte administration, state forces have increasingly red-tagged and killed farmers and peasant leaders perceived as NPA sympathizers or sources of opposition to the government. 

These extrajudicial operations, which have continued under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., have been called counterinsurgency operations even when little to no evidence shows that farmers were part of the NPA. 

Similarly, during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., rural killings targeting farmers critical of government land reform policies were also rampant. In what is now known as the Escalante massacre, soldiers opened fire on a crowd of farmers, fisherfolk and other civilians, leading to 20 dead.

The killings on September 21 follow the massacre of a family of farmers in Negros Occidental in July this year, who were allegedly killed and subjected to torture by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines after being red-tagged. 

RELATED: CHR to investigate truth behind massacre of allegedly red-tagged family in Negros Occidental  

‘Disturbingly familiar script’

Farmers Jover and Aimee were shot by troops of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA). The former was repeatedly shot until his face was "crushed and his eyes were gouged out," Karapatan said in a statement September 25.

“In a disturbingly familiar script, the perpetrators later claimed that the couple were NPA members killed in a military encounter,” Karapatan said.

The Jose Rapsing Command of the NPA in Masbate has refuted the military’s claim that the farmer couple were NPA troops.

Meanwhile, Karapatan has also objected to the 47th IBPA’s claim that the six civilians it gunned down in Negros Occidental were prompted by a “ten-minute armed encounter.”

“According to reports, the victims comprised a rebel couple on medical leave because the wife was six months pregnant; three medical personnel of the New People’s Army; and a civilian tricycle driver,” Karapatan said.

“The six, all of whom were unarmed, were reportedly aboard a tricycle traveling along Sitio Lubi when soldiers from the 47th IBPA suddenly fired at them. The 47th IBPA later falsely reported that the six were killed in a 10-minute armed encounter,” the group added.

Soriano condemned the military personnel’s brutal killing of the eight individuals, saying that they “no longer choose” who to target.

“Whether it’s children, pregnant women, old civilians or those with illnesses, they kill them just to suppress people’s call for land, livelihood, human rights and justice,” Soriano added.

Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) said that the incidents are “clear violations of IHL and demonstrate the continuing climate of impunity in the country.”

"These victims were either civilians or unarmed combatants who posed no threat, yet they were deliberately targeted and brutally killed by government soldiers,” Brosas said.

"These killings only strengthen our resolve to push for the removal of the 'war budget' in the 2024 General Appropriations Act and bring justice to the victims of these heinous crimes," she added.