After losing in court and failing to prove their accusation of “terrorism” against the New People’s Army (NPA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is proving itself desperate with its publicity stunt of submitting yesterday a supposed list containing what it claims are “4,000 cases” of supposed human rights violations by the NPA “since 1968” (although the NPA was only established in 1969).

If they failed to prove before the Manila Regional Trial Court their accusation of “terrorism” against the NPA, what more with these “4,000 cases.” Probably this is the reason why they filed this for publicity purposes before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) instead of before a trial court where they will have a hard time proving their case. The CHR, of course, does not have any jurisdiction over the CPP and NPA.

It is likely that these “4,000 cases” contain mostly baseless or conjured cases. Typically, the AFP misrepresents its paramilitary forces, spies and agents, as well as its armed personnel, as “victims” when in fact, they are legitimate targets of military action under international humanitarian law.

I don’t think the AFP realizes it, but in demanding that NPA be measured against standards of human rights and international humanitarian law (HR & IHL), it is contradicting itself in its accusation of terrorism against the NPA, because in the first place, terrorists cannot be made accountable to HR & IHL.

The AFP, of course, knows that it they really wanted to hold the NPA accountable, they could have filed the case before the Joint Monitoring Committee established under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). However, the AFP stubbornly opposes the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations.

The AFP opposes peace negotiations and insists on accusing the CPP and NPA as “terrorists” because it wants to get military funding from the US under its sham “war on terror” and continue to use counterinsurgency in order to grow its power and impose its fascist agenda over Philippine society.