The attacks of the reactionary state against women in the name of counterinsurgency continue relentlessly. Thousands of women have fallen victim to violations committed by its armed forces, especially in rural areas. They are part of communities dominated by the military, subjected to bombings, blockades, and control.

Since Marcos Jr assumed power, state agents killed no fewer than 23 women under the guise of the counterinsurgency. Nine were civilians accused of being Red fighters and killed in fabricated encounters. Among these were Jelyn Deomo, Sheryl Dejomo, and Divina Ajitan, who were killed by the 96th IB in Masbate, as well as Cristina Jacolbe and her daughter Everlee, who were killed by the 79th IB in Negros Oriental. Others were Red fighters who were captured, tortured, and deliberately killed, such as Wilma Tiamzon, Hannah Cesista, Annabel Talon, Glorivic Belandres, and Kaliska Peralta.

Marcos Jr’s agents abducted at least 20 women. Three of them—Elgene Mungcal, Ma. Elena Pampoza, and Lyngrace Martullinas—remain missing to this day. Some managed to escape the soldiers’s grip, such as Jhed Tamano, Jonila Castro, Rowena Dasig, and Dyan Gumanao. Others were secretly detained in military camps, like Mariel Rebato and Monica Ogacho, along with their infants.

Soldiers specifically target pregnant women or those who have recently given birth whom they suspect to be Red fighters or wives of Red fighters to force them and their spouses to surrender. Among these is Cherilyn Rebita, who was abducted from her residence and secretly detained until she gave birth. Soldiers kidnapped her child to coerce her into surrendering her husband, who is also a Red fighter.

In military-occupied peasant communities, soldiers are at the forefront of violence against women. At least eight cases of rape have been reported in communities in Northern Samar, Camarines Norte, Batangas, and Oriental Mindoro. In two cases, the victims were minors. Two victims reported that other soldiers acted as “lookouts” while the crimes were being committed.

From July 2022 to January, the Marcos regime arrested no fewer than 27 women on fabricated charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and linked to the armed movement. Many of them are elderly, such as Presentacion Saluta, 63; Dolores Rapsing Belibit, 70; Adora Faye de Vera, 66; and most recently Myrna Cruz-Abraham, 69. De Vera and Cruz-Abraham have been released, but most remain imprisoned in various parts of the country.