The New People’s Army (NPA)-Rizal (Narciso Antazo Aramil Command) was not surprised by CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit) Active Auxiliary members’ shooting and killing of an 80th IB officer on January 20. A certain “Sgt. Mark” was killed after an altercation during a drinking session inside the military detachment in Sitio Macaingalan, Barangay Puray in Rodriguez, Rizal.

The shooting reportedly stemmed from the long-repressed CAFGU member’s anger over the latter’s “disciplining” him for his drinking habits while being likewise drunk. The sergeant is the 80th IB detachment’s second-in-command. One of the three CAFGU members now faces a murder case, while the other two have been charged with illegal discharge of firearms.

“This proves the mercenary, rotten, and violent culture and tradition of the AFP-PNP-CAFGU that leads to internal disorder within their own ranks—among both officers and ordinary soldiers,” NPA-Rizal spokesperson Macario Liwanag (Ka Karyo) said.

He said the 80th IB and CAFGU are notorious in Barangay Puray for their alcoholism and frequent shootings in the community. Similarly in 2024, an 80th IB soldier shot a fellow soldier right in the center of the barangay.

“In fact, residents in the area and neighboring communities have repeatedly complained about the soldiers’ habit of drinking and indiscriminate firing during their sprees,” the spokesperson added.

Drunkenness and shooting aside, the 80th IB in Rodriguez also created disturbances by occupying a school and disrupting children’s classes in Sitio Kwinaw, Barangay Puray, and by encamping for nearly three years beside residents’ homes in Sitio Ilas in the same barangay.

“We call on Rizaleños to unite and strengthen the struggle to expel the 80th IB from Rizal,” Ka Karyo said. He said it is time for the people to actively defend civilians from such shootings and human rights violations.

He also urged CAFGU members to abandon their service to the reactionary Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). “If you truly want to serve the country, join the only army with a long history of defending the people’s interests, practicing internal democracy, and maintaining an iron discipline that binds it tightly with the masses—the New People’s Army,” he said.

NPA’s Southern Tagalog regional command (Melito Glor Command) spokesperson Ka Cleo del Mundo echoed the call. She said many CAFGU members come from poor peasant families who are forced to enlist because of joblessness and the desperate need to earn a living.

“They are turned into traitors to their own class origin, only to sink deeper into poverty and become instruments of repression against the struggle for land, livelihood, and the rights of the toiling masses,” she said. Ka Cleo said CAFGU members must leave their posts and join the peasantry’s just and class-based struggle.