The counterinsurgency policy is not only targeted against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) but against perceived supporters or any groups standing in the way of the administration’s political and economic interests.
In other parts of Samar and Leyte, and in the provinces of Bicol and Negros island, farmers like Pajares find themselves targets of the military’s counterinsurgency operations. The three areas were cited in President Duterte’s Memorandum Order No. 32, issued exactly a year ago, and which purportedly aims to quell “lawless violence.”
Mangyan are the target of intensified state violence due to counterinsurgency program dubbed as Oplan Kapanatagan. Last June, strafing and bombing operations in Victoria and Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, forced over 600 Mangyan to evacuate to the lowlands.
“The problem is that the framework of this task force [to end communist insurgency] provides no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, or activists belonging to organizations categorized as legal fronts [of the Communist Party of the Philippines].”