Fascist military, police and paramilitary forces relentlessly sow terror and violate the rights of minorities and the downtrodden masses in the barangays and communities of Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur.

Since 2018, the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (SFB) and their lackey CAFGU units forcibly established an additional 15 detachments in Andap Valley Complex (AVC) communities in Surigao del Sur. Four of these communities are in Barangay Diatagon in Lianga.

Meanwhile, the 75th IB established a total of 11 detachments–three in Barangay Mahaba in Marihatag, two each in the barangays of Buhisan and Hanipaan in San Agustin town, two in Barangay Bolhoon, one in Barangay Libas in San Miguel, and one in Barangay Caras-an in Tago.

The 3rd SFB built four detachments at the border of Surigao del Sur and Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur. Two of these are in Barangay Mabuhay, and one each in the barangays of Libertad and San Lorenzo.

Long list of atrocities

The 3rd SFB already has detachments in several barangays in AVC since 2016. Residents from a group of barrios recorded 361 victims of human rights violations committed by the battalion. These include two cases of physical assault, 33 cases of illegal arrest and detention, 42 forced surrenders, 24 instances of filing of fabricated charges and 106 forced evacuations from communties.

Curfews have been imposed on these villages, people coming and leaving the community are forced to sign logbooks while farming time is limited. Soldiers set up flash checkpoints to take pictures of drivers, their passengers and cargo. Store owners are interrogated and compelled them to limit the amount of food supplies they purchase. Soldiers conduct a census whenever detachments change officers. They threaten those they accuse of maintaining links with the New People’s Army.

Soldiers also engage in decadent activities such as drinking and public disturbance when they get drunk. They “befriend” and flirt with residents, even married women and minors. A girl was threatened when she refused courtship. Some who became pregnant, including minors, are simply abandoned when the involved soldiers are transferred to another detachment. They target the children of recognized leaders of indigenous communities.

In a cluster of adjacent barangays within Prosperidad, 111 cases of human rights violations were recorded in 2022-2023. The cases mainly involve intimidation and threats (55), forced evacuation and dislocation (16), surveillance (15), food blockade (7), coercion (6), interrogation (4), arrest and detention (2), planting evidence (2) and filing fabricated charges (3). The illegal search of an elderly couple’s house and the beating of their mentally disabled young son in Barangay San Lorenzo were also reported.

Civilians, including barangay officials red-tagged by the NTF-ELCAC, are repeatedly threatened and coerced. Many have been forced to sign papers in exchange for promised benefits from E-CLIP. In one barangay, a resident with a mental disability was driven to suicide due to the trauma caused by incessant summoning and interrogation of his parents by soldiers.

The most recent incident was the repeated shelling by the SAF and 3rd SFB from Barangay Libertad, Prosperidad in August 2024. This terrorized residents, especially children, nursing mothers and the elderly. It affected 1,000 families in neighboring barangays of San Lorenzo, Mabuhay and Libertad. Residents in nearby barangays along the road such as Barangay Aspetia, Magsaysay, Los Arcos and San Martin in the same town were also affected.