Various organizations and human rights groups have spoken up condemning the killing of Juan Sumilhig, a Maranao farmer, in a reported encounter between Philippine military and forces of the New People’s Army (NPA) in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro on August 1. While Kapatiran ng mga Dating Rebelde (KADRE)-MIMAROPA, a group of former rebels, claims that Sumilhig is an NPA member, rights group Karapatan Southern Tagalog claims that the farmer was only an unarmed civilian.
“Hindi engkuwentro, kundi’y koordinadong operasyong militar ang isinagawang pagtugis kay Sumilhig,” said the organization in a statement. In their humanitarian mission in San Jose, Karapatan was told by Barangay Naibuan officials that 50 to 100 soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) established their encampment in the area in late July, and that Police Lieutenant Colonel Victor Lacwasan had confirmed Sumilhig’s killing as a coordinated military operation.
The AFP allegedly withheld his remains from family and then buried him without the knowledge of Karapatan’s humanitarian team.
KADRE, however, contests Karapatan’s report. According to the Philippine Information Agency, KADRE-MIMAROPA Jerwin C. Castigador identified the farmer as “Ka Aljun,” information that was reportedly confirmed by other former members of the movement. The group also said that Karapatan’s statement was “deceptive misinformation and disinformation designed to mislead the public and portray government soldiers negatively,” and that it aimed to discredit the Philippine government’s peace efforts.
On August 7, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) called Sumilhig’s death a violation of international human rights law and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, a landmark agreement between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, signed in 1998.
Indigenous peoples organization Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu) cited Sumilhig’s case in their call to end alleged state violence towards indigenous peoples in the Southern Tagalog region. “Even the spokesperson of the National Democratic Front-Mindoro confirmed that Sumilhig was not an NPA member, as no [NPA] unit exists in the area,” the group said.
While the farmer was Maranao, an ethnic group native to Mindanao, he lived among the Mangyan people in Mindoro for over a decade. “Mangyan communities in Mindoro continue to endure military harassment, which causes constant fear and disrupts their ways of life,” Katribu said in their statement.
