APCHRP: Human rights violations under the Marcos-Duterte regime continue into the Christmas season with abduction of two farmers
As Filipinos prepare for Christmas, human rights violations by the Marcos-Duterte regime continue with the forced disappearance of two farmers in Quezon province.
According to human rights group, Tanggol Quezon (English: Defend Quezon) – a member organisation of the human rights alliance KARAPATAN, coconut farmers Ronilo Villanueva and a man only identified as “Genero” were illegally arrested by members of the 85th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army. It was reported that Villanueva was merely harvesting copra when he was shot at by the soldiers, accused of being a supporter of the revolutionary New People’s Army (NPA). The latter, along with Genero, were subsequently abducted by the military and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Responding to reports that two civilians were shot at and detained by the military, Tanggol Quezon sought to check-in on the two farmers to see their condition. Despite repeated requests to the military for information on the location of the civilians, the human rights group found themselves being harassed by the 85th IB instead. Tanggol Quezon has reportedly been “red tagged”, accused of being supporters of the NPA themselves, and have allegedly been put under surveillance by soldiers under the IB. Not only is it guaranteed by international human rights conventions for the location of detainees to be disclosed, to ensure their family members or legal representatives can locate them, but it is even more detestable that in exercising this legal right Tanggol Quezon found themselves facing harassment instead.
The act of shooting without any cause and the arbitrary arrest of two civilians violates their rights embodied in the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Tanggol Quezon has also reported the exponential increase of military checkpoints in the town of San Narciso, Quezon province where the shooting and abduction occurred. The following day when human rights advocates were making their way to San Narciso, they were blocked by one of these checkpoints without offering any explanation as to why they were being denied entry. Officials of the local barangay these attacks occurred in has also issued a resolution declaring human rights organizations, like Tanggol Quezon, as persona non grata – no doubt under the influence of the Philippine military.
This unprovoked violence against unarmed civilians and its systematic cover-up by the military and local government officials show that despite the Christmas holiday drawing near, the Marcos-Duterte regime’s lust for human rights abuse and bloodshed remains unabated. This recent incident adds to the list of violations against human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) by the Philippine military in Quezon province. In September, another Quezon farmer – Roberto Mendoza – was arrested by members of the 85th IB on unfounded accusations of violating the Anti-Terrorism Law. In June, two Quezon-based activists – Fritz Labiano and Paul Tagle – were slapped with trumped-up charges by the same IB, allegedly for providing support and financing to the NPA as well.
Then, in August, environmental activist Rowena Dasig went missing shortly after being released from detention. Rowena and another activist, Miguela Peniero, were arrested last year after studying the impacts of a gas turbine power project in Quezon – on unsubstantiated charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Dasig would be acquitted of such charges in August this year, but shortly after being freed from custody she abruptly disappeared – with no explanation from authorities. It would take another two months before Rowena would be reunited with her family and legal team, after a tireless campaign by her fellow activists calling for her resurfacing. While Dasig is now safe, the torment she endured in prison for over a year and her subsequent enforced disappearance have caused unwarranted stress to her and her loved ones.
Such is the modus of the Philippine military, who exist to do the bidding of the Marcos-Duterte regime and their oligarchical backers, against activists and human rights defenders. These groups face continued harassment and attacks from the Marcos-Duterte government merely for blowing the whistle on the worsening economic conditions of peasants, indigenous activists and other rural folk, as well as the worsening degradation of our natural environment to satiate the greed of monied interests. Meanwhile, coconut farmers and farm workers in Quezon continue to suffer from low wages, declining coconut prices, landlessness, and militarization.
The Asia-Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) fully supports the right of Tanggol Quezon to determine the conditions and whereabouts of Ronilo Villanueva and Genero. The 85th IB must surface these two farmers and disclose the full details of their shooting and arrest. In the same vein, we reiterate our call for a complete demilitarization of civilian communities in the Philippines – including Quezon province – where the increasing presence of military elements, such as the proliferation of armed checkpoints, constitute a violation of the principles of IHL against military encampments within a civilian population.
Surface Ronilo Villanueva and Genero! Free all political prisoners! Stop the attacks against activists!
