The New People’s Army (NPA)-Mindoro (Lucio de Guzman Command) refuted the 4th IB statement that it killed a Red fighter in an alleged encounter on March 14 in Sityo Cabuyao, Panaytayan, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro. According to the NPA-Mindoro, no people’s army unit was in that barangay at that time.

“Which civilian victim did you mercilessly kill this time and then justified with accusations of being NPA? Or with staging a fake battle to present your victim as a ‘legitimate NPA’,” the unit’s spokesperson Ka Madaay Gasic said. The victim reportedly remains unidentified.

The NPA-Mindoro challenged the 203rd IBde commander to immediately release the remains of the alleged Red fighter killed in the said battle. “Have mercy on the family of the civilian you killed, it is their right to get the body and hold the culprit accountable,” Ka Madaay said.

This 203rd IBde modus is not new to the Mindoro people. The soldiers perpetrated killing many civilians and then accused of being Red fighters.

Among the most recent of these is the 4th IB’s killing of Mangyan youth Jay-el Maligday on April 7, 2024 in Sityo Soriawon, Barangay Nasucob, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro. The fascists raided the Maligday family house then mercilessly shot the victim and pronounced it as an encounter with the people’s army.

After the fake battles, the communities were subjected to grand, sustained and intense Focused Military Operations (FMO), Retooled Community Support Program Operations (RCSPO), intensified psywar campaign and surveillance. These military operations caused extreme fear, trauma, anxiety, and disruption to the Mindoreño masses especially to the indigenous Mangyan.

“The fascists have utter disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law,” Ka Madaay said. He called on the Mindoreño masses to act and condemn state terrorism.

Meanwhile, he said that it is proper for the NPA to launch tactical offensives against the terrorist AFP-PNP to give justice to the victims of this violation.