Himamaylan residents coming home from evacuation centers last Friday, October 7, were dismayed after they were forced to again vacate their houses yesterday as Barangay Carabalan and some parts of Barangay Cabadiangan was placed under one week lockdown 72 hours after troops of the 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) clashed with a unit of the New People’s Army’s Mount Cansermon Command (MCC-NPA) at Sitio Sig-ang, Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.

Locals of Sitios Palayan, Tongo and Guia of Barangay Cabadiangan as well as some sitios of Barangay Biao, Binalbagan adjacent to Sitio Sig-ang were asked to choose between going to evacuation centers or staying inside their homes all throughout the military lockdown.

Ka Dionesio Magbuelas, MCC-NPA spokesperson, condemned military control imposed by the 303rd Brigade where rampant militarization is currently monitored in three neighboring barangays: Carabalan, Mahalang and Buenavista.

According to Magbuelas, “the military is obviously using the encounter at Sitio Sig-ang to justify establishing detachments in the mountainous areas of Himamaylan and make it seem like it is the demand of the people.”

“With the current situation, the people will likely rise in resistance to intimidation, threats and harassments, torture and killings perpetrated by the fascist military,” he added.

“The US-Marcos II regime teaches the people to fight,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ka Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command – New People’s Army Negros Island’s Regional Operational Command, explained in a statement addressed to the local media why the Philippine Army is unusually extending its so-called manhunt or clearing operations against the NPA.

According to Magbanua, (1) frustrated over their defeat, the military releases their cruelty to the people, (2) by extending their operations, they increase their operational expenses and this gives way to their corruption, and (3) the military aims to sow terror among the people to suppress the people’s struggle for their rights.

The National Democratic Front (NDF) – Negros also released a statement calling on the people “to remain united in resisting state fascism and expose these atrocities to the public.”

Ka Bayani Obrero, NDF spokesperson, stressed the “utmost urgency to demand respect for human rights and observance of international humanitarian law.

“The local government unit of Himamaylan City should not just standby and allow these attacks against its constituents. The LGU should assert civilian supremacy and demand an end to the militarization of Himamaylan City,” he said.

Obrero raised concern over the military’s bombing frenzy, “If left unchecked, it may escalate into an airstrike which will cause grave destruction on the communities and also the environment.”

He recalls that in July 2022, Pasaporte bragged of the military’s capability to launch air strikes in Negros Island.

“The revolutionary movement has been consistent that economic interests of foreign companies and local compradors in Himamaylan City is behind the increasing militarization of the area in the guise of counter-insurgency,” he concluded.