Negros Occidental residents raised alarms over the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion alleged plans to conduct an aerial strike on Mandalangan Mountain Range covered by the Northern Negros National Park, according to the statement by the New People’s Army (NPA) Roselyn Jean Pelle Command – Northern Negros Guerilla Front (RJPC-NNGF).
Residents reported that they were being forced to evacuate from the forested area to make way for the military’s bombardment. They said that the military were targeting Sitios Tinibiangan, Ekogan, Nabaisan, Calanugan, Victory, and Yamingon, all under Brgy. Minapusuk in Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
Local media and organizations also reported a series of military harassment in various other towns. This includes the killing of four sick and unarmed hors de combat NPA fighters in Binalbagan, including former Cebu youth activist and journalist Nikka dela Cruz.
Among the military’s next target for bombing is the Northern Negros Natural Park, the largest protected area in Negros Occidental, which serves the primary water source for seventeen cities and muncipalities as well as a habitat for several endangered species.
The communist rebels condemned the Army’s plans saying that bombing the area would harm both the residents and the environment. They also claimed that the plans were made after the 79th IB staged a fake encounter, where no armed encounter happened, in Calatrava, as part of focused military operations in the area since May 2022.
“The masses are more terrorized with the news of bombing, fearing for loss of lives and livelihood. The elderly are wearisome of their future, recalling their sorry state during 1990’s Oplan Thuderbolt aerial bombing in the same area. Displacement of households is an additional burden in these times of economic crises due to pandemic, inflation and calamities,” said RJPC-NPA spokesperson Cecile Estrella in a statement.
Estralla also said that bombarding the Northern Negros Natural Park would displace the animals living there and destroy the protected natural park area. The NPA and many civil society organizations called out the military’s use of indiscriminate aerial bombing and strafing in its counterinsurgency operations.
In Northern Negros, the RJPC-NPA said that state agents were conducting operations in the area since May 26, 2022, and that civilians have reported several cases of grave threats, intimidations, psychological warfare, theft, and repeated interrogations.
They called on the local government units to stop the planned bombing as it would “greatly affect the lives and livelihood of the masses, as well as, the natural resources.”
The RJPC-NPA also urged environmental advocates and other concerned citizens to condemn the planned bombardment as well as defend Northern Negros National Park and the environment. The rebels also demanded independent investigations on the human rights violations and implications of the 79th Infantry Battalion’s airstrikes.
Brigadier General Innocencio Pasaporte, commanding officer of the 303rd Infantry Brigade that includes the 79th Infantry Battalion, did not deny that they were planning to launch airstrikes in the air. He only said that their precision missiles would cause “none to little collateral damage.”
Gen. Pasaporte brushed off the RJPC-NPA’s statement, saying that it was a “desperate attempt” to delay their defeat after their leaders were killed or arrested by the military. He also said that, as a commander, he is willing to use the government’s resources to bomb communities with NPA presence such as the OV-10 Bronco and the Duterte-acquired million-dollar Super Tucano.
Last year, however, the Army already lauded the 79th Infantry Battalion after they claimed that they had already dismantled the New People’s Army’s Northern Negros Front. However, the NPA retorts that their guerilla fronts in various areas in the Negros island are still very active.
With the Philippine government’s rejection of the peace talks with the communist rebels, the counter-insurgency operations will still be governed by this violent logic of military operations, which often targets civilians and communities in the middle of the armed conflict.
Featured image courtesy of Bombo Radyo Bacolod
