The series of ostentatious rites initiated by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units in Negros in line with the global observance of International Law (IHL) Month amount to nothing but mere PR stunt to project a false image of compliance amid its brutal campaign of terror and suppression that contravened all existing human rights (HR) and IHL instruments.
A key highlight of these grotesqueries was the so-called “Soldier’s Pledge of Commitment to IHL” in which fascist soldiers spuriously took an oath for the “ethical” conduct of military operations and “protection” of human rights.
These feigned swearing for ceremonies are akin to the Devil quoting the Scripture to confuse and deceive.
Since Marcos Jr assumed the helm of power in the neocolonial state, the AFP in Negros is in the state of frenzy trampling people’s rights and disregarding the protocols of war with impunity and unbounded brutality and barbarism.
From 2022-2025, AFP units in Negros along with its paramilitary auxiliaries, the PNP and other state security forces perpetrated 1,095 cases of HR and IHL violations that victimized 91,269 Negrosanons (4,409 were minors) in the course of repeated campaigns of encirclement and suppression.
Of these, 78 were victims of extrajudicial killings under Marcos II regime while 4 victims were abducted and remained missing until now.
Meanwhile, the most common type of HR violations committed by the AFP in Negros almost on daily basis includes threat, harassment and intimidation with 385 cases involving 16,886 victims. This followed by iIlegal search and seizure (103 cases and 1,204 victims) , physical assault & injury (76 cases and 115 victims), indiscriminate firing of firearms (71 cases and 2,842 victims), illegal arrest (52 cases and 74 victims), surveillance (38 cases and 63 victims), illegal detention (32 cases and 113 victims), destruction of property (23 cases and 189 victims), coercion (12 cases and 406 victims), abduction (6 cases and 13 victims), frustrated killing (4 cases and 4 victims), extortion (3 cases and 550 victims) and rape (1 case and 2 victims).
On IHL, the most prevalent violations of the AFP consist of hors de combat killing (15 cases and 25 victims), indiscriminate shelling and bombing (12 cases and 3,800 victims), aerial bombing (3 cases and 1,440 victims), encampment in populated areas (183 cases and 32,495 victims) and forcible evacuation and displacement (22 cases and 39,929 victims).
These cases taken as a whole constitute AFP’s continuing acts of crimes against humanity particularly in Negros Island.
