ICHRP Condemns Heightening Attacks Against Peasants & Indigenous People Following FA-50 Crash In Mindanao

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) vehemently condemns the recent aerial attacks by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on March 4th near Cabanglasan town, Bukidnon.

Although the AFP claims FA-50 fighter jets were providing air support to troops engaged in an encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA), community reports indicate the two FA-50 fighter jets fired indiscriminately, dropping at least eight powerful bombs in the area. Reports say local farming and Indigenous Lumad communities are suffering trauma in the aftermath of the bombardment, and have been forced to grapple with the destruction of the area land which is the source of their livelihood.

The attack on March 4 has come into focus due to the crash of one of the AFP’s FA-50 fighter jets and the death of two pilots. But these bombings are part of an increasing trend of indiscriminate aerial attacks that puts civilians in rural communities at great risk. The March 4 bombing spree follows a recent series of aerial strafings in Mindoro, as well as the recent crash and discovery of a US spy plane in Mindanao. The crashed FA-50 was one of the same jets used in the five-month government siege of Marawi City in 2017, which displaced 400,000 Maranaons from their homes. It also follows the recent disappearance of Lumad activists Michelle Campos and Genasque Enriquez, whose whereabouts are currently unknown after being arrested by state forces earlier this month.

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The growing frequency of AFP counterinsurgency and aerial attacks constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which enshrines the distinction between civilians and combatants. Peasant communities and Indigenous groups are at particular risk from these attacks, suffering psychological distress, death of farm animals, extreme damage to crops and land, and death. These bombings and strafings, ostensibly carried out in the context of the armed conflict between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NPA, fail to distinguish between military targets and civilian populations.

Human rights group Karapatan has reported that GRP bombing and strafing activities have been consistently indiscriminate in nature. They are characterized by disproportionate force and have repeatedly resulted in forced evacuations and civilian casualties. According to Tanggol Magsasaka, between January 2022 to March 2023, at least 1,254 individuals were affected by aerial bombing assaults, with 900 of them displaced in 2023 alone.

News outlets and human rights groups have documented white phosphorus bombings, strafings, airstrikes, and intense aerial bombardments by the GRP in the past decade, and these occurrences are increasing with alarming rapidity. Between July 2022 and June 2024, Karapatan has identified 44,065 victims of bombings in the Philippines, and the number reportedly rose from 2,345 in 2022 to 20,391 in 2023, representing a stunning 766% increase. Peasant and indigenous people, whose lands are rich in natural resources, continue to suffer the most from AFP operations in rural areas of the Philippines.

While the AFP has tried to explain its weapons acquisitions as part of a modernization program meant for territorial defense against China, the events of March 4th constitute yet more evidence that the attention of the AFP is fixed on counterinsurgency. Weapons sales to the Philippines from countries like the United States are directly supporting these anti-people operations that impact rural communities already struggling with dire poverty and landlessness.

ICHRP calls on the GRP to uphold IHL and end its campaign of surveillance and indiscriminate bombings in civilian communities. We must develop the solidarity movement for the struggle of Filipinos for land and life amid growing aerial attacks and bombings.

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