The Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) called for justice for the killing of two National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros staff by the US-Marcos regime butchers a month ago. According to them, the killings were “grave violations of international humanitarian law” that must be condemned by human rights advocates.

It can be recalled that NDF-Negros confirmed in a statement that the victims, the group’s leading official Nonoy Ponteras (Ka Jojo), 48 years old, and a regional office administrator Marisa Pobresa (Ka Kim), 23, were civilian staff. Their tasks included consulting with workers, farmers, farmworkers, and various impoverished and oppressed sectors on the island to help amplify their grievances and advance their struggles.

On the evening of March 7, the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel reportedly abducted the two from a house in Bacolod City. They were forced into a van and brought to an undisclosed location, where they were eventually killed.

Marcos’ butchers brought their remains to Sitio Paraiso, Barangay Caduhaan, Cadiz City. On March 8, a military spokesperson disseminated false claims that the two were allegedly killed in an encounter past 1:00 AM between the 79th IB and the New People’s Army (NPA)-Negros Island. The NPA refuted this, stating that no NPA unit was in that area at that time.

According to APCHRP, the killing of the two is not only a violation of international humanitarian law but also an act committed in blatant contempt for the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), an agreement signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and NDFP.

“Instead of addressing the roots of armed conflict in the Philippines, the US-Marcos regime chooses to wage a reckless and inhumane counterinsurgency war targeting even unarmed civilians,” APCHRP stated. They have also observed numerous past cases victimizing even ordinary citizens through aerial bombings and attacks on civilian communities.

This violence by the regime clearly shows its lack of intention to resume the stalled peace talks between GRP and NDFP. “And they would rather see countless more lives lost in their senseless counterinsurgency campaign,” said the group.

APCHRP, as member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, was among those who pushed for and supported the International People’s Tribunal Against War Crimes in the Philippines launched in May 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. The tribunal found President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, President Joseph R. Biden, and the Government of the United States guilty on all charges of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

The tribunal established that GRP’s counterinsurgency operations are characterized by repeated attacks against civilians, extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate bombings, forced displacements, and other violations. It also found that GRP conducted outright killings, violence against personal dignity, and disrespectful treatment toward captured or wounded combatants.

It was further proven that individuals and organizations suspected to be associated with NDFP are persecuted through abductions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and in some cases executions or liquidations. Lastly, it was determined that the US is complicit in these violations for its massive support to GRP in directing operations, training, and arming AFP and PNP in implementing counterinsurgency campaigns.