“The problem is that the framework of this task force [to end communist insurgency] provides no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, or activists belonging to organizations categorized as legal fronts [of the Communist Party of the Philippines].”
“The series of attacks threaten to undermine the country’s peace and order situation, the State’s failure to identify and punish the perpetrators further breeds a culture of impunity and violence.”
In his fourth state-of-the-nation address President Duterte didn’t say a word about the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that have shocked many all over the world. Just the week before, his government had been embroiled in a ruckus over the approval of a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, urging the UN High…
“We call on all freedom-loving individuals and organizations to unite in holding the Duterte government accountable for turning Negros island into a killing field.”
The CPP and NPA demanded the Duterte regime to abide by the Geneva Conventions and other international protocols and called on all of Duterte’s forces to stop targeting and killing civilians.
“Those who were killed are persons; they are not just numbers or statistics! We fervently pray that we may not continue counting dead bodies; that every one of us will continue protecting human lives.”
Albayalde’s statement justifying Oplan Sauron reeks of impunity. Like Oplan Tokhang, the Philippine National Police wishes the public to regard as normal the butchering of civilians.
“It exposes that ‘hit lists’ often translate to killings.”
“His marching orders to pass the death penalty measures, on top of his bloody drug war and counterinsurgency speak of his ineffective and blatantly anti-people kill-kill-kill solution and policy framework.”
Human rights group Karapatan documented 250 victims of extrajudicial killings and 10 victims of enforced disappearances from July 2016 until March this year. Moreover, nearly 370,000 civilians were affected by military bombings and 450,000 have evacuated due to military operations, Karapatan data showed.
While rural communities grapple with militarization, Metro Manila and other urban centers have also turned into bloodbaths due to Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs.”