The Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog-Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK) strongly condemned the 203rd IB for relentlessly bombing and strafing the community of Sitio Mamara, barangay Caracao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on January 1.

The bombing and strafing began around 9 a.m. while farmers and indigenous people were peacefully working in their fields after celebrating the new year.

Videos and posts of the helicopters’s bombings and strafing spread on Facebook. The voices of residents living near the site revealed terror and anxiety. Residents spotted four attack helicopters dropping bombs near the communities.

According to KASAMA-TK, the military sowed terror following an encounter between the AFP and a revolutionary group. The group said the 203rd IBde’s bombing and indiscriminate strafing were “overkill” for using excessive force against the opposing troops. It could also harm civilians and their livestock, as well as damage crops and houses.

“This incident in Abra de Ilog is not separate from the ordeal of the entire island of Mindoro and rural areas of Southern Tagalog. Overkill operations in the region’s rural areas continue despite the US-Marcos Jr regime and the butcher AFP declaration that no guerrilla fronts remain in the country,” the group explained.

Prior to this incident, the Abra de Ilog community gained prominence because of the successive human rights violations by the AFP against residents and indigenous peoples in the area. The abduction and torture of Dolores Marinao Solangon by 76th IB elements were first reported on December 2. Former mayoral candidate and indigenous peoples’ rights advocate Ramon Alcantara was arrested and charged with fabricated cases on December 23.

In October, 80th IB elements harassed, surveilled, and spied on delegates and participants of an international solidarity and fact-finding mission in Abra de Ilog.

KASAMA-TK called for a comprehensive and independent humanitarian mission in Abra de Ilog community and the immediate withdrawal of all AFP, PNP, and CAFGU forces from Mindoro island.