Residents of San Miguel, Las Navas, North Samar recently exposed the drunken and other anti-social behavior of the 20th IB soldiers camped within their communities.

On March 12, they fired mortars at around 11 pm near homes. One of the bombs misfired and landed inside a houseyard. Fearing it might explode, the residents took video and photos of the bomb and posted it on social media to ask for help.

The drunken soldiers’ excuse is that they fired mortars because of the presence of the New People’s Army in the mountains of Tigbaw, which is several kilometers away from the barangay. Nevertheless, many witnessed that they fired the mortar at the nearby barangay of Malubago. They even brazenly lied that resident Papay Cabadbad shot at them. They cannot explain why they fired a mortar from inside the barangay and why they left unexploded bombs behind.

It is clear that the repeated firing of mortars by the soldiers inside the barangay and their false accusations of crimes against the residents is a tactic to sustain terror in the barrios that have been established “cleared” by the reactionary state and the AFP. The AFP is only using government projects to attack civilians in its armed campaign against the NPA.

Residents have a long history of exposing military abuses and crimes, by taking videos, posting them on social media, filing complaints before local officials and others, and with collective action, the residents can stop and comprehensively hold the abusive soldiers accountable.

Report from Bandilyo Guerilla, April 25, 2024