The National Democratic Front (NDF)-Rizal reported in a statement that Red fighter Wally Agudes (Ka KM) was not killed in the encounter on July 18. This is contrary to the 80th IB’s statement that Ka KM was killed in Barangay Burgos, Rodriguez, Rizal in an armed encounter.

According to witnesses, they saw Ka KM alive and had even tried to run from the attacking soldiers. After this, they allegedly heard Ka KM shout that he will not fight and the answering of a soldier for him to stay down.

Ka KM has a chronic flu illness and high uric acid, which was the reason for his stay in the community. He could not walk properly and was incapable of fighting, which meant he was hors de combat.

The NDF-Rizal said that according to the witnesses, Ka KM was wearing a shirt but in the photo circulated by the 80th IB soldiers on social media after the apparent encounter, he was not wearing one. “It is a clear violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) to kill in coldblood a person who no longer has the capacity to fight,” according to the NDF-Rizal.

The NDF-Rizal also criticized military forces for arresting Laila Ramos, an organizer of the Dumagat-Remontado indigenous people. She herself is a Dumagat who has been active in defending their ancestral lands and resisting the destructive giant dams of Kaliwa-Kanan-Laiban Dam.

She suffers from sudden blindness and had a lump in her ear that was scheduled for surgery. The NDF-Rizal insisted that Ramos be released immediately for humanitarian reasons. The 80th IB claimed to have arrested another individual in the said area on the same day.

Meanwhile, on July 19 to 20, members and teams of Karapatan-Rizal who conducted a humanitarian mission and investigation related to the encounter were subjected to harassment and intimidation from soldiers of the 80th IB and Rizal police.

The investigation was launched due to the lack of concrete information from the military. “The names, number of the dead and those arrested are different, and only in the last post did they release the picture and name of the dead, contrary to the first statement that there were two and there were still different names,” said the group.

They boldly asserted that the soldiers and police ensure respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.