Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement form the Communist Party of the Philippines.

There is no bounds to the cruelty of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in its terrorist black operations.

On January 13, 2021, more than two years ago, armed soldiers belonging to the 79th Infantry Battalion conducting combat operations in Hacienda Ambulong, Barangay San Fernando, Talisay City, raided the home of Edwin and Marlyn Madin at 2 a.m. and snatched then 2-month old Baby Marx Cairo Salino from their care. The soldiers also took the baby’s garments and personal belongings of the baby’s guardians.

In its press statement, the AFP declared that they “recovered” an “NPA child” during the combat operation, as if the infant was a war trophy. Spewing wicked lies, the AFP claimed Baby Marx was “abandoned” by his parents. Baby Marx has since been in the custody of the Escalante City social work department, on orders of the military.

Baby Marx is a hostage being kept by the AFP to force his parents to surrender. His parents, Ka Peeta and Ka Jandy, both Red fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros, have declared that they will fight for Baby Marx’s rights, and do not have plans to surrender to the AFP nor bring harm to the people. They are determined to continue fighting for the cause of national freedom and social justice.

Baby Marx is a victim of the black operations of the armed agents of the terrorist state. By keeping him away from his family, the AFP is in outright violation of international humanitarian law, especially of its provisions granting special protection for infants, children, and pregnant women. Keeping Baby Marx a hostage constitutes a war crime.

For two years now, Baby Marx’s grandparents have been going through the bureaucratic processes in order to bring him home. Despite having complete papers and documentation, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)  refuses to give them custody of Baby Marx, saying they still have to wait for the decision of “top officers” of the AFP and DSWD. Baby Marx’s grandparents themselves were subjected to state surveillance and harassment forcing them to leave their home and go into hiding.

The CPP supports the demand of the Salino family for the immediate and safe return of Baby Marx to their familial care. We condemn the AFP for targeting infants and children, as well as pregnant women, in its black operations.

In addition to Baby Marx and his family, thousands across the country have fallen victim to the dirty tactics, war crimes of the AFP. Children and infants are not being spared. Military abuses and violations of civil and political rights continue to run rampant under the Marcos regime. Many of these cases have gone unreported especially in the rural areas, where entire peasant villages are placed under the brutal control of the AFP.

These dirty tactics of the AFP form part of its futile effort to crush the people’s resistance. In resorting to such cruel methods, the AFP is succeeding only in exposing its rottenness and inciting the people to fight back and join the armed revolution.

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