Translation: Pilipino

The Bicolano masses detest the return of the notorious 49th IBPA in the region. In almost a decade of disposition in the Bicol region, they have left the reputation of being rapists, murderers, and, most of all, terrorists. Their return is a telltale sign of the 9th ID’s intensified implementation of SEMPO-like attacks in the region.

The 49th IBPA has previously brandished terror in Albay, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte. Their role was critical in the implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya in Albay in 2009. In 2010, Pfc. Hamandre Flores, an element of 49th IBPA, raped a 15-year-old girl several times in Juban, Sorsogon. Flores is also an anchorman of the Good Samaritan, a program of the 9th ID in Radyo Padaba. That same year, elements of the 49th IBPA and CAFGU also raped a 17-year-old girl in Sitio Tublijon, Brgy. Rizal, Sorsogon. They also beheaded two coconut farmers in Bulan, Sorsogon.

When they were transferred to Camarines Sur, one of the many heinous crimes they committed was the massacre of the Mancera family at Sitio Mapatong, Purok 6, Brgy. Malaya, Labo, Camarines Norte. Bullets razed the family’s house, where a team of the NPA was temporarily resting. Two out of the three killed were children. A few months after, the 49th IBPA also murdered Brgy. Capt. Merlyn Bermas and a 4-year-old child. Bermas previously asserted that the slaughtered individuals were farmers, that elements of the 49th IBPA committed the crime and that no encounter ever ensued between the armed elements.

Hundreds of residents in Ragay and Del Gallego were also terrorized, taken pictures of and interrogated by the 49th IBPA before it was formally transferred to Mindanao in 2016. Up to this day, the scarred residents still dread the mercenary army’s cruelty.

NDF-Bikol strongly calls on the Bikolano masses to face the return of the 49th ID and the intensifying fascists attacks in the region with great resistance and sustained mass actions. Release lists of their crimes against the people. Encourage the victims and witnesses to speak out about their experiences. Flood all medium with calls for justice for all victims of the 49th IBPA’s and other units of the 9th ID’s abuses.

Enhance the coordination of propaganda machineries in the city and the countryside in order to expose the abuses in the provincial level to the regional, national and international audience. Some of the mechanisms are the creation of a centralized hotline for reports of abuse and the release of coordinated alerts of violations of human rights. The masses should also be capacitated to make their own reportage, alerts or videos so they can expose the military’s abuses swiftly.

The underground revolutionary movement must amplify its efforts to give political education and to organize the masses in order to heighten the people’s decisiveness to fight against state fascism. Revolutionary mass organizations must also assist the barrio people in developing defense plans for their community in preparation for an intensified militarization in the countryside.

Frustrate the SEMPO-like attacks in the Bicol region!
Expose the crimes of the 49th IBPA! Make the AFP-PNP-CAFGU pay for their crimes against the people!
Frustrate US-Duterte regime’s martial law! Advance the people’s democratic revolution!