Last December 25, the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) dropped several massive 250-lb bombs on a guerrilla camp of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon in the early morning of December 25 killing ten people. During the same attack, according to reports, the AFP repeatedly fired artillery rounds using the US- and Israel-supplied ATMOS stationed in their military camp in city. The AFP continued with the aerial bombardment in the evening and the following day.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has condemned this aerial attack, as another brazen violation of international humanitarian law and the civilized conduct of war as it is involves an disproportionate use of force relative to its target. The attack caused excessive number of deaths. The bodies of some of fatalities were grossly mangled, while others were dismembered during the vicious overkill.
In addition, the repeated dropping of powerful bombs, overflight of drones and fighter jets, and firing of howitzers caused widespread fear and trauma among the tens of thousands residents in various nearby barangays. It also caused the destruction of large masses of forest resources which are source of livelihood of people.
“The use of massive 250-lb bombs against guerrilla fighters shows the war decadence and bloodlust of the AFP. This decadence is fed by the US military in its drive to unload its arsenal of surplus and antiquated military technology. They unleash their firepower without distinction of what is within bounds of reason and principles of laws of war. This is the same military decadence with which Zionist state of Israel has carried out its bombardment of Gaza since October,” the CPP stated.
This latest fascist aerial bombardment by the GRP’s AFP highlights once more the litany of violations of International Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Conventions on War and the CARHRIHL.
In October 29, 2022, Ang Bayan, the official publication of the CPP has published a preliminary report (War Crimes of the AFP and PNP under the Geneva Conventions and the CARHRIHL) documenting these grave violations perpetrated against civilians, non-combatants and hors de combat.
The report documented indiscriminate killings and summary executions of civilians among them many children, illegal arrests, detention and torture. Of the non-combatants, the report said, 19 were members of the Party and the NDFP who were not directly involved in the armed conflict or were not in the battlefield. Ten were in possession of documents of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) identifying them as NDFP consultants in peace talks. Of the civilians, 20 were retired and elderly members of the Party and the NPA.
The AFP’s aerial bombings have been denounced by the revolutionary movement and many local and international human rights groups as grave violations of the Geneva Conventions on War. These bombings do not distinguish between civilian and military targets, cause superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering, aside from the long-term damage to communities and the environment. The bombing Malabalay, Bukidnon, is the latest in the AFP’s bloody list of bombings conducted in the Cordilleras in northern Philippines, Mindoro island, Samar, Negros and Surigao.
This article was originally published in updatesphilippines.info
