International Human Rights Day will be commemorated anew on December 10. This year, various groups are demanding the accountability of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, while holding the former Duterte regime responsible for its crimes against the people.
Latest in the regime’s crimes was the killing of civilian Honeylet Herrera by agents of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Sitio Balogo, Barangay Cristo, Donsol, Sorsogon on November 2. Herrera was falsely being linked to the New People’s Army (NPA).
The NPA-Sorsogon (Celso Minguez Command) stated the military attacked civilians in retaliation to the NPA’s punishment of intelligence agent Darius Laya in late October. Laya was involved in accusing community members including Herrera of having ties with the people’s army.
Arrest. On November 20, 85th IB soldiers arrested Allan Aragon, an indigenous Manide, in his community in Barangay Cabatuhan, Labo, Camarines Norte. His whereabouts remain unknown to his family to this day. Following the arrest, the 85th IB indiscriminately fired shots in the barangay.
In Negros Occidental, police arrested 29-year-old “Rafael” in Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, for illegal possession of firearms. The police claim to have confiscated a homemade 12-gauge shotgun with two rounds of ammunition from him. The police also accused him of being a “militia unit commander” despite having previously surrendered.
Harassment. In La Union, three 5th ID elements raided the house of George Cacayuran, vice-chair of Timek-Pamalakaya, on the morning of November 20 in Barangay San Manuel Norte, Agoo.
In Rizal, residents and indigenous Dumagat-Remontado of Barangay San Andres, Tanay, Rizal, confronted AFP soldiers for raiding their community on November 26. The AFP planned to use the ancestral land of the Dumagat-Remontado as a military reservation or camp.
In Negros Oriental, the 62nd IB forcibly entered and ransacked two houses on November 27. They entered the houses of Joan Lechan and the Perolino family, which included two young children aged 2 and 5, in Sitio Gusa, Barangay Budlasan, Canlaon City. Soldiers threatened to massacre the Perolino family if they refuse to answer their interrogation.
