Duterte’s death squad within the 63rd Infantry Battalion killed peasant Juddy Ragawdaw, resident of Brgy. Loog, Basey, Western Samar, in the first week of June. Ragawdaw had just come home from working in the farm when armed men fired at him.

The New People’s Army-Arnulfo Ortiz Command (NPA-AOC) strongly condemned the 63rd IB for accusing the NPA as responsible for Ragawdaw’s killing. The victim was once an active member of the peasant organization in their barrio. He was a victim of deception and forced surrender when the military conducted Retooled Community Support Program operations in their barrio in 2020.

According to the NPA-AOC, this shows that ordinary civilians can never attain genuine peace even after they surrender to the enemy. In April 2020 in Calbiga, Western Samar, the 46th IB killed peasant Noel Galvez less than two months after he surrendered to them.

Meanwhile, Ka Karlos Manuel of the NPA-Efren Martires Command said that the NPA and the masses must actively and immediately expose the killings done by the AFP-PNP against activists, progressives, and opposition members that are falsely blamed on the NPA. He said they must work closely together to frustrate the enemy’s attempts to attack the masses.

The NPA-AOC added, “We must not cow, instead we must unite and struggle together to fight the fascism and exploitation done by his henchmen and Duterte himself. For as long as the system of governance remains rotten, we must expect that the military will continue to kill more civilians.”#