Human rights groups and residents have condemned the 80th IB soldiers for indiscriminately firing shots in the middle of a populated community in Barangay Bacong Sigsigan, Famy, Laguna on November 28. The butcher 80th IB utterly disregarded civilians safety and rights.

While the soldiers were firing high-caliber weapons, residents repeatedly heard soldiers shouting, “get the children down and don’t let them run” and “tie them up.” The 80th IB’s shooting caused severe psychological trauma to the children and other witnesses.

The soldiers’ shooting and killing of civilians is a blatant violation of international humanitarian laws, conventions of war, and other international declarations that provide protection to civilians and non-combatants in any armed conflict.

Article 32 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions prohibits any act that results in the ill-treatment or humiliation of persons under its protection. It states, “…this applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation … but also to other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.”

This also violates the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

In light of this, the New People’s Army (NPA)-Laguna (Cesar Batralo Command) has called on the residents of Famy to unite and expose the 80th IB’s crime. “This incident is proof of the escalating state terrorism and the reign of fascism and de facto martial law under the US-Marcos II regime,” stated Ka Magdalena Kalayaan, the spokesperson of the unit.