The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its 8th Infantry Battalion and the 4th Infantry Division for the killing of Vincent Madlos and his wife Glorivic Belandres after they were abducted and placed under military custody. Vincent was the son of former New People’s Army (NPA) spokesperson Ka Oris and NDF-Northeast Mindanao spokesperson Maria Malaya.

Madlos and Belandres were traveling along the Bukidnon national hiway when military forces abducted them near the Atugan Bridge in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon. To cover up their crime, the AFP yesterday claimed in a statement that the two were killed in an armed encounter in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon on Saturday. They released clearly posed pictures of the cadavers of the two.

The New People’s Army-North Central Mindanao Region today released verified information that no such encounter took place in the said area. Citing reports, the NPA-NCMR said the two were last seen near the Atugan Bridge being forced into a vehicle by armed men.

The murder of Madlos and Belandres constitutes brazen war crimes as it clearly violates international laws of war which guarantees the rights of people denied of liberty in relation to the armed conflict.

We urge the family and friends of the victims to immediately demand the AFP to release the bodies of Vincent and Angie to allow them to properly grieve. They can also avail of the option of having an independent pathologist study their cadavers in order to determine the actual circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The CPP condemns the AFP’s criminal modus operandi of summarily executing captured combatants or hors de combat of the New People’s Army in violation of international war protocols, and fabricating stories of armed encounters to misinform and use the mass media to deceive the public.

It can be recalled that Ka Oris and his aide Ka Pika were murdered on October 29, 2021 by the 8th IB under similar circumstances, and their bodies immediately cremated to hide all evidence of foul play.

The same modus was carried out by the military in killing Menardo Villanueva (Ka Bok), NPA national commander, who was captured in Davao Oriental on December 24, 2021, and claimed by the 10th ID to have been killed on January 5, 2022, more than a week after. NDFP peace consultant Pedro Codaste and his aide suffered from the same criminal modus after they were arrested last January 19 in Cagayan de Oro City, and claimed to have been killed in an encounter on January 25 in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

Under the US-instigated counterinsurgency war of Duterte and now Marcos, the AFP has perpetrated gross abuses and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law with utter impunity targeting civilians, as well as sick and unarmed revolutionaries. People’s organizations have been subjected to relentless suppression in order to intimidate them and stop them from standing up and raising their protests against this reign of state terrorism.

This statement was updated to contain the correct name of Glorivic.