DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) condemned the killing of seven Tausug youths in Patikul, Sulu and scored the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for including civilians in its campaign against the alleged terrorist groups in Mindanao.
Fidel Agcaoili, chief negotiator of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), said the military has a well-established record of human rights violations in the country.
“We condemn the massacre of seven Tausug civilians by the AFP. These people were not members of any armed group and were only gathering mangosteen to earn something. The AFP has a long record of violating the human rights of the Moro people in its purported campaign against alleged terrorist groups from the time of the US-Marcos dictatorship to the present Duterte regime,” Agcaoili said.
He added that the “Moro people’s struggle for self-determination shall be victorious in the end against the oppressive and exploitative semi-colonial and semi-feudal social system.”
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines said the Patikul massacre adds to the long list of crimes perpetrated by the AFP over the past year.
“Under Duterte’s Mindanao martial law and Oplan Kapayapaan, the military has been given free pass in mounting wide-ranging attacks against the people. The Bangsamoro people suffer the regime’s ferocity as vast lands are being ravaged by the AFP to pave the way for the encroachment of plantations and mining companies. Lumads and poor peasants elsewhere in the island bear the same circumstances,” the CPP said in a statement.
It also called on the Bangsamoro people to resist all-out Duterte’s martial law which inflicts “death and destruction with impunity.”
“The Party enjoins the armed fighters of the Moro people to work together with or join the New People’s Army as they wage armed resistance for self-determination and to attain revolutionary justice for the deaths of thousands of their kin under the rule of the oppressive and exploitative classes,” the CPP said.
On September 14, the Army’s Scout Ranger killed Makrub Diray, Basirun Hayrani, Mijan Hayrani, Binnajar Asak, Salip Maknun Sakirin, Hassan Hamsam and highschool student Alpadal Diray in Barangay Tambang, Patikul, Sulu.
The army maintained on its earlier pronouncement that the victims were killed in a legitimate encounter.
But the victim’s relatives disputed the military’s claim, saying there were civilians harvesting mangosteen and lanzones at the time of their killing. (davaotoday.com)
