Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
MOVEMENT AGAINST TYRANNY
June 24, 2023
In light of the conflicting findings of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the just concluded National Solidarity Mission to investigate the massacre of the Fausto family in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, an independent investigation is necessary to determine who was behind the killings.
The narrative peddled by the PNP, the Philippine Army and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) – that Rolly Fausto, his wife Emilda and two children were killed by the NPA in retaliation for Rolly’s work as a military asset – is belied by the fact that the Fausto family was treated by the military as NPA supporters.
The NSM learned that in March of 2022, government troops even subjected Rolly to physical and mental torture, grave coercion, and illegal searches due to his suspected involvement with the NPA. As head of the Baclayan Bito Cabagal Farmers and Farm Workers Association (BABICAFA), he was constantly being red tagged and harrassed by soldiers.
The NSM also learned of the killing of another peasant leader in the area who was killed by government troops and then presented as an NPA combatant. Like Fausto, Crispin Tingal was previously accused of being an NPA supporter. Last May 3, 2023, he was killed while on his way home from a catfish training seminar sponsored by the Kabankalan LGU. His house was later strafed by gunfire as his wife and children managed to flee.
The similarities in the cases of Fausto and Tingal – both peasant leaders accused of being NPA supporters, later killed with their houses strafed with gunfire – is not a mere coincidence. It follows a pattern that has been observed in many areas where intense military operations are being conducted to flush out the NPA. Thus, we cannot simply accept the convenient and self-serving findings of the police, army and NTF-ELCAC, considering that these are the very agencies at the forefront of such brutal military operations.
We therefore call for an independent investigation, to be led either by the Commission on Human Rights, Congress or some special body created for the purpose, into the Fausto and Tingal killings, taking into consideration the massive human rights and international law violations that is happening in the entire Negros Island.
We demand an end to red tagging and terrorist labeling of those suspected of having links to the CPP-NPA-NDF, especially peasants who are merely exercising their civil and political rights.#
