Civilian communities are traumatized by the nationwide aerial bombing operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said.
While there are no clear military targets, the CPP said civilians in the vicinity of the aerial strikes are fearful of the bombs falling near their communities.
“The CPP the strongly condemns the AFP for its reckless and brutal strafing operations carried out under the cover of darkness past midnight yesterday in the areas between La Paz, Agusan del Sur, and Cabanglasan town, Bukidnon,” the group said in a statement Tuesday.
The revolutionary group also cited AFP bombing operations the Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro last March 1 and in nearby Pola town last February 19 using helicopter gunships.
In each case, the AFP put civilian communities in danger, exacerbating the sufferings of peasant and Mangyan communities, the CPP said.
Monday’s aerial strike in Mindanao was aborted when one of two FA-50 jet fighters crashed on its way to Mindanao from the Mactan Air Base in the Visayas.
The aircraft was found today in Mt. Kalatungan, Bukidnon with two of its pilots dead, the Philippine Air Force announced.
The use of the jets and helicopters constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, which mandates the protection of civilian lives during armed conflict, the CPP said.
“This not only endangers the lives of civilians but also reflects a gross disregard for the principles of proportionality and distinction in warfare,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.
The increasing use of air assets, acquired in recent years by the AFP as part of its so-called modernization program–are aimed at instilling fear among the peasant communities that it routinely accuses of supporting the New People’s Army, he added.
“The AFP continues to intensify these attacks despite its repeated declarations that the New People’s Army is ‘a spent force’ and has only ‘one weakened guerrilla front,’” Valbuena said.
Meanwhile, human rights groups, fresh from a fact-finding mission in Mindoro, in a press conference today said the lives of civilians have been “severely disrupted” by the bombings.
Mindoro Fact-Finding Mission leader Ida Palo reported that civilians, particularly Mangyan menfolk, were “regularly summoned” for “curfew briefings” by AFP soldiers, also preventing them from attending to their farms.
Soldiers have also burned down huts by farmers in the area purportedly to prevent the structures from being used by NPA fighters as shelters, Palo added.
AFP soldiers also encamped in civilian communities, further instilling fear among civilians and prompting school administrators to suspend face-to-face classes, the mission reported.
The rights groups added that the “intense military operations” are meant to silence the residents’ opposition to mining operations in the island. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
