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ICHRP Condemns AFP Attacks Against Two Farmers In Quezon & Calls For Their Release
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls for the immediate release of two coconut farmers arrested by the 85th Infantry Battalion (IB) last December 12, 2024 in Barangay Guinhalinan, San Narciso, Quezon in Southern Tagalog Region, after an alleged encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA).
According to human rights group Tanggol Quezon (Defend Quezon), a local member organization of the human rights alliance KARAPATAN, farmer Ronilo Villanueva was harvesting copra (dried coconut meat) when he was shot at by soldiers, wounding his leg. Villanueva and another farmer named Genero were subsequently arrested by 85th IB soldiers, who accused them of being supporters of the NPA. The farmers’ whereabouts remain unknown.
The shooting and arbitrary arrest of the two civilian farmers violates their rights embodied in the Bill of Rights of the Philippine Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Geneva Conventions on the protection of civilians, as well the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
ICHRP also deplores the presence of military trucks (6×6) and the military encampment in Brgy Guinhalinan. The principles of International Humanitarian Law prohibits military encampment among a civilian population.
These incidents also add to the 85th IB’s long list of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) violations against the people of Quezon. Notable cases include the illegal search, destruction of properties, planting of evidence, and arrest of farmer Roberto Mendoza; filing of trumped-up cases of financing terrorism and the use of Anti-Terror Act against Yulesita Ibañez, Lieshel Mendoza and Liezel Merchales and their paralegals Paul Tagle and Fritz Labiano; as well as the illegal arrest of Rowena Dasig and Miguela Peniero.
The local government in Quezon and the NTF-ELCAC have declared the province “insurgency free” several times. These bogus declarations serve to distract from the worsening conditions of farmers in the province. It also directly contradicts the AFP’s claims of alleged “encounters” with the NPA in Quezon.
Coconut farmers and farm workers in Quezon continue to suffer from low wages, declining coconut prices, landlessness, and militarization. Instead of addressing the economic woes and demands of the people, the Marcos government continues to wreak havoc through its US-inspired counterinsurgency program, which aims to quell any form of dissent or protest from the people.
ICHRP fully supports the fact-finding mission led by Tanggol Quezon to investigate human rights and IHL violations by the 85th IB. It calls for the immediate release of the two civilian farmers arrested as well as ensuring their safety. It reverberates the demand of the people for military pull out in their respective communities and respect the principles of IHL. ICHRP calls on the international community to hold Marcos Jr. accountable for his government’s continuing attacks against the Filipino people.
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