By Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay
We expressed alarm on the multiple reports of incidents of threats and harassment of peasant organizations and their members, as well as similar cases of intimidation against activists in the past weeks.
The Marcos administration has the audacity to claim that it is a “long-time champion of international humanitarian law,” while his National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) run roughshod on the basic rights and fundamental freedoms of ordinary peasants, Indigenous people and political dissenters. This posturing is belied by the state of unpeace and terror inflicted by State security forces in the countryside. These threats and harassment should stop.
Peasant leaders in Lupang Ramos, Dasmariñas, Cavite, received information on Aug. 17, 2025, that a grave coercion complaint was filed against them by 2nd Lt. Ann Kea Guillepa of the 2nd Civil-Military Operations (CMO) Battalion. The said complaint was filed after a store owner allegedly refused to sell sanitary napkins to soldiers. For years, the 2nd CMO Battalion, the AFP’s Task Force Ugnay and the NTF-Elcac have conducted disinformation and red-tagging campaigns in the said community.
On Aug. 19, soldiers from the 80th Infantry Battalion summoned Dumagat residents of Barangay Sta. Inez, Tanay, Rizal, to a meeting at the village’s court, where they threatened those who will join rallies and receive visitors in the community who are not cleared by the military with being charged with rebellion. Earlier, some members of the community joined the people’s protests in Metro Manila during the State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. A relief mission of a private foundation to provide relief goods to the community was questioned by soldiers. An Indigenous people’s leader also experienced daily interrogations by the soldiers, while a certain Pastor Benjie has been making the rounds in the community to coerce residents to “surrender.”
From Aug. 23 to 24, members of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita, Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson and the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura decried the derogatory materials in Tarlac posted by alleged State forces, denigrating the work of the peasant organizations in upholding the rights of farm workers in the Hacienda Luisita.
Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan–Panay decried the baseless and patently false accusations of the AFP against Bayan-Aklan coordinator Kim Sin Tugna, linking him to the New People’s Army (NPA) in the military reports on its Tapaz, Capiz encounter with the NPA. Tugna previously filed charges against the military on red-tagging.
From July 28 to the second week of August, leaders of Gabriela and Gabriela Women’s Party in Cagayan Province and Marikina City have experienced various forms of harassment and threats, including interrogation and unwanted visits in their homes, being intimidated to “surrender” in exchange for “ayuda” and surveillance.
Last week, we submitted information to the Commission on Human Rights regarding the threats, harassment and bullying of soldiers and agents of the NTF-Elcac against youth activists and church workers in Eastern Visayas.
These reports should not be taken as isolated incidents. This is a systematic campaign of the NTF-Elcac to terrorize organizations and communities that uphold people’s rights, in furtherance of its repressive goals enshrined in Marcos’ National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development. This campaign undermines the right to exercise freedom of opinion, association and peaceful assembly.