Reds’ Samar attacks draw outrage anew

THE Communist Party of the Philippines and its terrorist wing, the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) continue to flaunt their claimed adherence to international humanitarian laws (IHLs) and human rights by continuously using ‘anti-personnel mines’ (APMs) during terrorist attacks and the killing of civilians with impunity, drawing further public outrage.

The latest atrocity committed by the terrorists occurred last July 7, 2021, when at least 60 fully-armed NPAs attacked a group of soldiers and civilian militia (Cafgu/CAA) in Sitio Cabatas, Bgy. 4, Jipapad, Eastern Samar that killed 3 while also seriously wounding 6 more.

The CPP, thru its ‘chief information officer,’ Marco Valbuena, again defended the violence by lying thru his teeth, claiming it was “a legitimate act of war against military targets.”

“The military and paramilitary forces who were ambushed by the NPA were fully armed and ready to engage in battle,” Valbuena lied further in a statement he released on July 9, 2021.

The fact of the matter is that the soldiers and the Cafgus are in the area to do carpentry work for a proposed military detachment as requested by the locals.

A video of the recovery effort after the attack also showed all the victims in civilian clothes and all of them in short pants, clearly proving the lie that the soldiers were fully armed and ready to engage in battle as Valbuena claimed.

The video also showed the victims suffering wounds in their lower extremities, victims of at least 3 APMs exploded by the terrorists, authorities said.

The fact of the matter is that the soldiers and the Cafgus are in the area to do carpentry work for a proposed military detachment as requested by the locals. A video of the recovery effort after the attack also showed all the victims in civilian clothes and all of them in short pants, clearly proving the lie that the soldiers were fully armed and ready to engage in battle as Valbuena claimed.

It can be recalled that Valbuena is also the same CPP mouthpiece who proffered the party’s “sincerest apology” to the family of Kieth and Nolvin Absalon, two civilians who were also killed in cold-blood by the NPA unit in Masbate province last June 6, 2021. Aside from shooting the victims at close range, the NPA worsened the crime by blasting the victims with an APM.

In its apology to the Absalons, the CPP claimed the NPA’s adherence to the IHLs and even offered to indemnify the victims’ families.

Valbuena’s apology again proved to be a farce as the NPA continue with its rampage, this time in Samar province.

Aside from attacking the soldiers and militia in Jipapad who are not deployed for combat, the NPA, on Saturday, July 10, 2021, also murdered a village leader in Las Navas, Northern Samar, which, again, is another glaring violation of the IHLs by the CPP-NPA.

According to the authorities, Crispin Mordido, 37, barangay chair of Bgy. San Andres, was in nearby Bgy. Lourdes past 12 noon when a group of NPA arrived and shot him repeatedly.

The latest incident brought to 4 the number of NPA terror attack victims in Samar province in a span of 4 days.

The unrestricted use by the CPP-NPA of APMs that mostly killed civilians or government forces in civic missions, has already forced the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), to criticize the CPP-NPA. The CHR has gained the dubious reputation of being “tame” to communist violence in the past as most of its officials are also previously “allied” with CPP front organizations during the martial law years.

But in the attack in Masbate last June 6 and in the attack in Jipapad last July 7, the CHR said it would “investigate” both incidents while also condemning the NPA for using APMs in its terror campaign.

The CHR stressed that the use of such weapons is not allowed under the international humanitarian law (IHL), due to the fact that these explosives do not discriminate who the victims would be.

“We stress that even non-State actors (CPP-NPA) are bound to comply with [IHL], alongside the government. In this incident, the indiscriminate use of IEDs, including landmines, continues to fail in distinguishing between civilians and combatants and protect especially civilians and communities from the ill effects of armed conflict, which violates the spirit of IHL,” stated CHR deputy spokesperson, Marc Louis Siapno, on the same day that Valbuena was justifying the violence in Jipapad.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has so far recorded more than 141 incidents involving production, stockpiling, transporting and use of APMs by the NPA, injuring or killing more than 30 civilians.