Philippines: Expose military lockdowns in Northern Samar villages

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following July 26 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) calls on the Filipino people to expose and condemn the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), specifically the Philippine Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion, for unlawfully imposing a military lockdown on the peasant communities of Northern Samar, and subjecting thousands of people to onerous policies and measures. People of barangays Hitapian and San Vicente in Catubig town, as well as Barangay San Jose in Mapanas town have been placed under lockdown since July 19.

In the guise of counterinsurgency, the military treat the peasant masses like prisoners in their own communities. The presence and abuses committed by soldiers have devastated people’s livelihood. The military forbids the people from leaving their homes without first obtaining permission from the soldiers and signing a logbook. They are permitted only a limited time to work on their land. They are forbidden from bringing rice to their fields or swidden farms, for fear that people will give these to the NPA. Even small store owners are forced to log every purchase.

Soldiers brandishing their weapons occupy barangay civilian structures. They engage in and promote anti-social activities such as gambling, drinking, and selling and using shabu. They fire their weapons in the middle of the night to strike fear among the people.

The AFP employs state repression and terror tactics to stop people from supporting the New People’s Army. They expose the falsehood of their claims that the NPA no longer enjoys the broad support of the people. In doing so, however, they are only succeeding in rousing the people’s revolutionary outrage and stirring them to further tighten their bonds with the people’s army.

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