Hold the Marcos administration and the 20th IBPA accountable for their bloody counterinsurgency operations in Northern Samar!

On November 5, 2024, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) committed yet another violation of International Humanitarian Law in Barangay Sulitan, Catubig, Northern Samar, where it killed Jerick Jugal in an alleged encounter between the 20th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army and the New People’s Army (NPA). Witnesses, however, strongly claimed that Jugal was not a member of the NPA and that there was no encounter.

The residents of Barangay Sulitan where Jugals resides can attest that he is not a member of the New People’s Army but a civilian who works tirelessly to support his family. Aside from this, the community experienced strict restrictions imposed by the 20th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA), led by Lt. Col. Richard Villaflor. Residents were prohibited from leaving their homes to attend to their livelihoods or buy food and other necessities.

Aware of the brewing discontent among the residents of Barangay Sulitan as well as their anger towards Jugal’s killing, the 20th IBPA, together with members of the Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC), distributed relief goods in Barangay Sulitan as a tactic to ease the situation. They continued this activity in the neighboring village of Magtuad on November 10.

The APCHRP condemns this scheme by the Marcos administration and the AFP, where, following a false encounter resulting in deaths, civilians caught in the crossfire are labeled as members of the NPA. According to data from KARAPATAN, the number of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) carried out by the AFP and PNP since Marcos assumed office in July has reached 77, where victims are civilians who got killed in “encounters” and tagged as a member of NPA. 

The coalition holds the 20th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) accountable for killing Jetro Jugal. It also strongly condemns the Marcos Jr. regime and the government of the United States for funding the Philippine government’s counter-insurgency program, which fuels the violence and extra-judicial killings by military and police in both urban and rural areas. The Philippine government must uphold its commitment to the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). Moreover, we call on the international community, human rights organizations and peace-loving citizens to continue to expose the human rights violations happening in the Philippines and call for an end to military support from foreign governments. ###

#StopTheKillingsPH