Coni Ledesma
Head, Special Office for the Protection of Children
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
The Special Office for the Protection of Children of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (SOPC-NDFP) vehemently condemns the brutal massacre of the Fausto family – father, mother and their two children Raben (aged 12) and Ben (aged 15) by the AFP’s 94th Infantry Battalion last 14 June 2023. Based on verified reports, AFP troops stormed the family’s hut deep in the night and massacred them in their sleep.
This heinous act is a blatant violation of the rights of the child and the special protections under international humanitarian law. Child rights violations have sharply increased under the Marcos II regime with reports of kidnappings, threats, forced evacuation, violence and now the murder of two children in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental. In Negros Island alone, the NDFP has documented at least 22 cases of state violence involving children between the period of 2020 to 2022.
Pinning the blame on the NPA is an old and tired tactic the AFP uses to escape accountability for its crimes against the people. Confirmed reports stated that on 22 March, both Emelda and Rolly Fausto were interrogated and harassed by military agents. Even prior to the incident, the AFP has red-tagged the Fausto family, slaughtered their livestock, and ransacked their property in attempts to force admission of ties to the NPA.
The killing of the Fausto children and their parents exposes the AFP once more as lawless and mindless child killers. As commander-in-chief of the criminal, corrupt and brutal AFP, Marcos II is directly responsible for its war crimes against the Filipino people.
A regime that kidnaps, threatens, and murders its own children is fascist and inhumane, and deserves the condemnation of the international community.
The US-Marcos regime must not be allowed to operate with impunity and must be held accountable for the lives of children they have extinguished.
