The five Red fighters in Bilar, Bohol were not killed in an encounter but were deliberately massacred by elements of the 47th IB and PNP Bohol. Domingo Compoc, Hannah Cesista, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura and Alberto Sancho were captured alive at house in Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao on February 23 in the morning. Contrary to international rules of war, they were tortured and willfully killed.

Witnesses say Cesista, a lawyer who chose to serve the oppressed classes, was made to crawl through the mud before she was shot. Meanwhile, Compoc who was over 60 years old and suffering from arthritis was tortured in front of the village residents. He was hacked on the neck and stomach, they said.

A photo of Compoc circulated among Bohol people and social media, showing him accosted from behind by a soldier and with his hands apparently tied behind his back. The photo was visibly taken surreptitiously. People in the village knew that the arrest and killing of the five, done in plain sight, was meant to terrorize them.

Witnesses contradict the “findings” of the so-called “scene of the crime operatives” who are in collusion with the police and military criminals in covering up the crime. On radio and television, the five were falsely claimed to have “exchanged gunfire” while “resisting arrest”. They even released video clips of a semblance of a “battle” which killed a policeman and wounded others. These were blindly promoted in pro-AFP social media accounts to drown the truth. Residents in the area were forced to evacuate after the “battle.”

The Communist Party of the Philippines (PKP) strongly condemned the US-Marcos regime and the fascist AFP and PNP for the massacre of the five.

“There is no truth to the lie being circulated by police that the five were killed in an encounter,” according to Marco Valbuena, chief information officer of the CPP. “What people (of Bilar) witnessed was the brutality of the military and police torturing and killing the five revolutionaries.”

“The willful killing of Compoc, Casista, Historia, Omosura and Sancho after being captured and placed under the custody of the military and police consists of gross violations of international humanitarian law,” according to Valbuena. “The 47th IB and Bohol police, the leadership of the AFP and PNP, and Marcos himself, are liable for war crimes and must be prosecuted and punished for their nefarious deeds.”

More details of the crime are being gathered.

“A post-mortem autopsy of the remains of the victims … conducted by independent pathologists will surely add more details to the initial facts which have been put forward by the community,” Valbuena said.

The Party called on the Filipino people, farmer associations, labor unions, youth groups, lawyers, media, church people, women and others to unite and stand together with the families, friends and loved ones of the massacre victims in their call for justice.

“The Party and the NPA will do everything it can to punish the fascist and terrorist criminals,” said Valbuena.