“In pursuit of its oft-lapsed deadline to end the armed revolution, the US-Marcos regime has escalated bombings, forced evacuations, torture, and extrajudicial killings targeting peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, youth activists and entire rural communities,” said the NDFP in a statement.

According to the NDFP, many civilians were killed in the Toboso massacre. The group also condemned the Armed Forces of the Philippines for its “utter disregard for international humanitarian law and human rights.”

“The killing of civilians and the conduct of military operations with complete disregard for the principles of distinction, proportionality, and humane treatment reveal the criminal character of the reactionary state’s counterinsurgency campaign,” the statement added.

The NDFP further reiterated that “even in the midst of war, there are rules that must be respected” pointing to how the AFP committed violations of the Geneva Conventions in the said massacre in Negros.

The NDFP also blasted the AFP for “dehumanizing the victims and denying them dignity in death.” According to the NDFP, “by reducing the slain to labels and repeating claims that the armed revolutionary movement has been defeated, the regime seeks to justify its war crimes and conceal the political roots of the armed conflict.”

“No matter how the AFP lies to slander the slain martyrs of Toboso, the masses know the truth. They know that those who offered their lives in the struggle to liberate the people from oppression and exploitation are among the best sons and daughters of the motherland,” the NDFP added.

#International #Philippines #AntiWarmovement #NDFP #AFP

The attempts by the U.S. military to whitewash its heightened presence in the Philippines through “disaster training” are utterly despicable. The U.S. imperialists, in collusion with the Marcos regime and the U.S. mercenary officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) must be condemned by the Filipino people for exploiting the recent climate disasters to mount another publicity stunt that camouflages the brazen violations of Philippine sovereignty.

The “disaster training,” which is nothing but another U.S. military air show and maneuver exercises, purportedly to support the AFP’s “rapid response,” serves as another occasion for the U.S. to display its military power.

It is shameless how Marcos’ top military and defense officers grovel and beg for the Philippines to have access to the facilities within the camps of the AFP—the so-called “agreed locations” under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)—supposedly to help them distribute relief items to disaster victims.

These U.S. – supplied water bottles, relief assistance and deployment support are mere token responses to Philippine disasters. In return, U.S. military forces are granted even greater access to Philippine air, sea and land territories. Recall how the US deployed one of its biggest aircraft carriers, the USS George Washington, to the vicinity of Leyte Gulf in 2013, carrying superficial amounts of water, food and medical supplies, but which was used by the U.S. military to put boots on the ground in various parts of Eastern Visayas.

The militarization of disaster response, especially by a foreign military power like the U.S, undermines the humanitarian principle of neutrality and serves political and military objectives of the military power. While the delivery of relief assistance may appear altruistic and benign, the real priority of the US and AFP “disaster partnership” is to strengthen U.S. hegemonism over the Asia-Pacific region and serve US imperialist war preparations by expanding US military presence.

The Filipino people must sharply recognize and expose the imperialist aims of the U.S. and the subservience of the Marcos regime in these so-called “disaster trainings.” These must be denounced for serving the strategic aims of the U.S. military in the country, which is to continue using the Philippines as a staging ground for its wars of aggression against other nations in the region.

The Filipino people must stand against this imperialist subterfuge behind the veil of “disaster training,” and demand an end to U.S. military intervention, deployment of troops, stockpiling of U,S. weapons, endless war exercises and provocations.

#International #Philippines #Marcos #AFP #NDFP #CPP