THE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) criticized the Duterte administration for the massacre of CPP cadre Andres Hubilla (Ka Magno), New People’s Army (NPA) fighter Miguel Himor (Ka Billy) and civilians Arnel Borres and Dick Laura by security forces on July 28 in Barangay Trece Martirez, Casiguran, Sorsogon.
“The CPP holds President Duterte himself criminally responsible for the Casiguran massacre. A few days ago, it was Duterte himself who ordered his men to kill NPA fighters instead of arresting them in total disregard of the international laws on the conduct of war. The revolutionary forces indict as well Armed Forces (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año and Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa and other key officials of the AFP and PNP as accessories to the crime,” the party declared.
Hubilla and Himor were unarmed when the military and police raided their temporary resting place.
The CPP cadre and the others raised their arms to show they were unarmed and yielding, but the raiders opened fire, killing the four in violation of the basic rules of both the PNP and the AFP, the party said.
“Under the laws of war of modern civilization, they should have been accorded the status of hors de combat [combatants who are not in a position to fight], have their rights respected and treated with humanity. The Casiguran massacre is an act of barbarism,” the CPP added.
The CPP described the killing of civilians Borres and Laura, a local tiller and a fisherman, as outright violations of international humanitarian law.
“Under international norms, the rights and lives of civilians in time of war should be protected and upheld. Instead of doing so, the military and police killed Borres and Laura in an apparent effort to eliminate witnesses to their crime,” the CPP said.
“The Casiguran massacre highlights the rapid deterioration of the military and police under the murderous US-supported Duterte strongman regime. On Duterte’s command, military and police units, together with state-supported vigilante groups, have gone on a rampage of killing against anyone Duterte considers as his enemy,” the party said.
“CPP pays tribute to Ka Magno, tireless Party cadre, who headed the Party committee in Sorsogon and guided the Celso Minguez Command (NPA-Sorsogon). A former history schoolteacher and torture victim of [Ferdinand] Marcos’s martial law, he was a stalwart of the revolutionary movement in Bicol. Ka Magno [also known as Ka Carlo] was a beloved son of the masses. He always came across as a simple and humble man, wearing a simple shirt and shorts and an impish smile,” the party said in eulogy to Hubilla.
“He is known by practically every poor peasant in Sorsogon, among whom he ate, laughed and lived with. With his reliable hammock, he slept at any available corner after a nightlong discussion with his hosts. Ka Magno tirelessly served and inspired the poor peasants and people to organize and fight for their rights, advance their cause for land reform, take up arms and wage revolutionary struggle,” it added.
“The Party extends its deepest sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of Ka Magno, Ka Billy and civilians Arnel Borres and Dick Laura. The Party and the entire revolutionary movement vow to exact justice for their cold-blooded murder by Duterte’s military and police forces,” the CPP said.