We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the de facto martial rule imposed by the US-Marcos Jr. regime in the Southern Tagalog region of the Philippines. This has led to grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), causing immense harm to rural communities and their advocates.
For years, the region has been a hotspot for human rights violations and peasant killings. The Marcos Jr. administration carried on the “whole-of-nation” approach—inspired by the US counterinsurgency guide—of its predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, enabling the military to take the civil autonomy of the local government units to further militarization especially in rural communities.
This August—recognized by the Philippine government as the IHL month—saw the latest spate of military attacks in Southern Tagalog’s communities, all under the veil of counterinsurgency. Up to 100 troops of the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army conducted combat operations in the mountains of Brgy. Naibuan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, killing civilian farmer Juan Sumilig on August 1. The next day, in Quezon province, the military launched aerial bombing and strafing in Brgy. Maguibuay, Tagkawayan—from around 5 p.m. to evening. In Rizal, the military is restricting the activities of the Indigenous Dumagat people, requiring their permission to participate in activities such as joining protests, selling their local produce (bagsakan), and allowing relief operations into their communities.
Even humanitarian and fact-finding mission teams dispatched by independent human rights groups also experienced harassment and intimidation. Social media accounts that post updates are filled with trolls trying to change the narrative, and in some cases, content is taken down without warning.
Such has been the case since earlier this year: Filipino peasants and Indigenous people in the region are taking the brunt of the military’s heightened campaign “to dismantle the remaining [New People’s Army] presence in Southern Tagalog before year-end.” They have become the targets of numerous aerial strafings and bombings as well as unlawful arrests on fabricated charges of being NPA rebels. Military forces have turned communities and even primary schools into temporary encampments before and during operations, instilling fear and exacerbating the already-disrupted daily lives of the residents.
Hunger is deliberately weaponized in counterinsurgency operations. Farmers are barred from tending their crops during the day, while curfews restrict their movement at night. Soldiers have also been burning the nipa huts of kaingin (slash-and-burn) farmers under the false pretense that these could be used by the NPA. Furthermore, humanitarian aid is often blocked or only permitted if it’s rebranded under the military’s name and its allies.
These acts are clear violations of both the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity (RA 9851). Despite these blatant war crimes committed against both combatants and non-combatants, the Marcos Jr. administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines hypocritically commemorate IHL, all while being its primary violators.
We stand with the rural communities in Southern Tagalog, who have been staunchly protecting their lands and their rich mineral resources from the plunder of the local ruling elite and multinational corporations as enabled by the national government and facilitated by the military. We call out the Marcos Jr. administration and its military for this war against Filipino peasants and IPs, all in an effort to brutally quell legitimate people’s resistance and give way to development aggression. We also condemn their subservience to the imperialist US, whose backing has emboldened these IHL violations.
We, representing people’s organizations, international networks, and movements resisting imperialist wars, counterinsurgency, plunder, and fascism, stand in militant condemnation of the brutal attacks on the Filipino people, especially in Southern Tagalog. We call on all democratic forces and peace-loving people of the world to rise in solidarity, denounce the relentless violations of international humanitarian law in Southern Tagalog, and join the struggle to end the fascist violence of the US-Marcos Jr. regime.
DEFEND SOUTHERN TAGALOG!
HOLD WAR CRIMINAL US-MARCOS REGIME ACCOUNTABLE!
UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW!
STOP BOMBING OUR COMMUNITIES!
Sign the statement here: