The order by the governor of Apayao province to grant reward money for the “capture, arrest or death” of members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) will lead to even more baseless red-tagging, human rights violations and attacks against civilians.

The order is fascistic, anti-people and anti-democratic and will surely be used for corruption. It will further satiate the hunger for blood and money of the mercenary soldiers of the AFP, and encourage vigilante-style summary killings reminiscent of martial law.

By issuing such a Dutertesque order, the Apayao governor is making himself culpable for war crimes under international humanitarian law. He will be party to the crimes of the military, police and paramilitaries and will be made accountable for such.

The bounty program will be used by the military to attack and sow intrigue and disunity among the people of Apayao in order to weaken their resistance to the destructive dam projects, especially those which intrude into the ancestral land of the Isnag and other minority peoples.

This include the Gened 2 dam project which is being thrusted against the Apayao masses by the Pan-Pacific Renewable Power Philippines Corporation, a company owned by San Miguel Corporation.

The provincial governor, who belongs to the Bulut political dynasty, is himself in cahoots with the big bourgeois compradors and the National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac in hoodwinking the people to claim that the project has the consent of the communities.