‘No Rest For The Wicked’: State Security Forces Continue Its Bloody Rampage Against IP Farmers

Barely two days after Pres. Duterte’s “shoot-to-kill” pronouncement against alleged communist insurgents, which he made during a meeting with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), nine (9) activists were killed while six (6) others were arrested in the joint police and military search warrant and raid operations in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal, on March 7.

On that day, two Dumagat IP farmers, Puroy Dela Cruz and Randy Dela Cruz, were among those massacred.

According to reports, Puroy Dela Cruz and his family were startled from their sleep at 3 am, when a group of four armed men barged into their home and demanded that they surrender their firearms. Puroy’s wife Minda and their two children were forced outside where they heard gunshots fired inside their home. Puroy and Minda’s two children, ages 6 and 7, witnessed the killing of their father before they were pulled away from the scene.

At 4 am that same morning, it was Puroy’s cousin, Randy Dela Cruz, who was targeted by these state security forces. His wife and children were forcefully awakened and told to walk away from their home. Randy was then shot multiple times by armed men.

Despite mishandling the warrants, police and military officials asserted the legitimacy of their operations. They stated that the warrants served in these areas were signed by First Vice Executive Judge Jose Lorenzo dela Rosa, of Regional Trial Court Branch 4 in Manila. They justified the deaths by using the hackneyed “nanlaban” narrative; they alleged that those who were killed during the operations resisted arrest and fought back. But statements from the victims’ families and witnesses clash with the unsubstantiated and unclear reports from the police.

The police and military, following the command of the NTF-ELCAC, continue to deceive the public by lying through their teeth, even though not one honorable soul believes the lies these state agencies spew.

The intensifying counterinsurgency campaign does not target terrorists, contrary to what NTF-ELCAC and affiliated agencies believe. It targets people who belong in the poorest, most marginalized and discriminated sectors.

We expect these attacks to continue and worsen in the coming days. The state’s crackdown on activists and human rights defenders will only intensify as Duterte’s desperate bid to remain in power grows.

In the face of these attacks, IP organizations and advocates carry on the IP struggle for self-determination and justice. The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) strongly condemns the continuing massacres at the hands of state security forces. We demand a full accountability for these crimes from the Philippine government and an immediate and impartial investigation into these crimes. We call for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC as it promotes more killings and uninhibited attacks against IP activists and organizations.

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