Urgent Alert

January 5, 2026

Global human rights group International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) expresses its utmost condemnation of the aerial bombardment and strafing conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, that resulted in the massacre of three children and two youth.

Around 6 AM on January 1, combined forces of the 76th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army (IBPA), 68th IBPA and the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion conducted “strike operations” against members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Sitio Mamara, Brgy. Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. The military operation allegedly resulted in three encounters between government troops and the NPA.

Afterwards, local witnesses saw four AFP attack helicopters drop a total of 12 bombs and conduct aerial strafing in the area. The bombings killed three Mangyan-Iraya children and wounded their mother. It also caused the deaths of Jerlyn Rose Doydora, a researcher from a university in Manila, and one other youth researcher who died from injuries caused by the bombings. 

Meanwhile, the civilian population and Mangyan-Iraya Indigenous People experienced severe trauma and distress from the bombings that lasted three hours. The bombs destroyed their crops, farmland, and reportedly killed two cows and three carabaos, severely affecting their livelihood. According to local government data, 769 individuals were forcibly displaced and evacuated in a local high school. 

A team from local human rights group Karapatan Southern Tagalog has faced intense harassment, threats, and red-tagging from the AFP, Philippine National Police (PNP), and the local government in Mindoro. They are preventing the team from conducting a fact-finding mission in the affected areas to gather information on the impacts of the bombings on the civilian population.

The massacre of five individuals in Abra de Ilog adds to the long list of war crimes and human rights violations of the AFP against the people of Mindoro. Just last December 23, former mayoral candidate of Abra de Ilog and staunch anti-corruption campaigner, Monet Alcantara, was abducted from his home and charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives by state forces. 

This followed the abduction and torture of a Mangyan-Iraya woman by the 76th IBPA on December 2, the killings of farmers Juan Sumilhig on August 1, 2025, and Hulyo Agtay on March 14, 2025, and the murder of Indigenous youth Jay-El Maligday on April 7, 2024. Even delegates of the International Solidarity Mission (ISM) team in Abra de Ilog last October 2025 who integrated with the Mangyan-Iraya Indigenous Peoples experienced harassment and intimidation by state forces.

The barbaric and overkill military operation of the AFP against a small unit of the NPA further exposes the desperation of its commander-in-chief Marcos Jr. to end the communist rebellion in the island to hasten the entry of huge mining companies and renewable energy projects. This is the reason why widespread militarization persists in Mindoro.

Below are some of the planned corporate projects, all in Abra de Ilog:
a) Mining operations of Agusan Petroleum after the government nullified the 25-year moratorium on mining in Occidental Mindoro;
b) The 375-megawatt Abra de Ilog Wind Energy Project planned to operate by 2031; and 
c) The privatization of the Luyang Baga Cave in Brgy. Cabacao for ecotourism. The cave stands on ancestral lands of the farmers and the Mangyan-Iraya Indigenous People.

ICHRP calls for justice for all victims of the bombings perpetrated by the AFP in Mindoro. We condemn the AFP and Marcos Jr. government for grave violations of international humanitarian law and for endangering the lives of hundreds of civilians. We call for an end to the militarization in the island of Mindoro.

We are also calling for donations to support the humanitarian team that is currently conducting a fact-finding mission in the affected areas. You can send financial support through this link:

https://ichrp.net/donate/

Urgent Alert 

January 2, 2025

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the cold-blooded murder of farmer-leader Warlita Jimenez in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental last December 23, 2025. The killing occurred during the Christmas season in the country when Filipino families gather and hold celebrations.

According to witnesses, the 55-year old Jimenez was inside her home in Sitio Makilo, Brgy. Camansi when two armed men clad in bonnets forcibly broke inside at 11 PM. They heard Jimenez scream for help while the assailants fired four shots and quickly fled the scene. Local human rights groups suspect that the 15th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) are responsible for the killing. If proven, the murder constitutes grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL).

Jimenez is the wife of slain peasant leader Joseph Jimenez who, along with National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Ericson Acosta, was summarily executed in 2022 by elements of the 94th and 47th IBPA in the same barangay. The Jimenez couple were both leaders of local peasant organization Paghiliusa sang mga Magagmay nga Mangunguma kag Mamumugon sa Brgy. Camansi (Unity of Small Farmers and Workers in Brgy. Camansi) or PAMMACA.

PAMMACA is currently facing a land dispute against the Sola landlord family, a struggle they share with peasants in Kabankalan since the 1940s. The Solas own vast haciendas and are known to hire armed goons to threaten and harass farmers who assert their rightful claims to about 140 hectares of lands covered by agrarian reform in the locality.

Jimenez has been subjected to relentless red-tagging, threats, and harassment by state forces since the killing of her husband in 2022. She along with other Camansi residents have been forced to surrender as members of the New People’s Army (NPA). Her strong and long-time advocacy for land rights in their barangay have put her in the crosshairs of the Marcos Jr. regime’s fascist machinery.

The killing of Jimenez further exposes that Marcos Jr.’s National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD) rings hollow in its rhetoric of so-called peace. It is nothing but a regurgitated counterinsurgency plan hellbent in crushing legitimate dissent from the people through a violent all-out war, especially against civilians.  

ICHRP enjoins the international community to amplify the call for justice for the killing of Warlita Jimenez. We call on Philippine authorities to immediately launch an investigation, hold the perpetrators accountable, and put an end to the spate of peasant killings and militarization in Negros island. 

We also reiterate our call to abolish the NTF-ELCAC as the chief implementor of the Marcos Jr.’s brutal US-backed counterinsurgency program.

Political prisoners in the Philippines need your support this holiday season!

To donate, head to: ichrp.net/FreeThemAll

Your donation will support the basic needs of prisoners and help their family members visit from far-away provinces.

This month, ICHRP is partnering with human rights alliance KARAPATAN to collect donations and letters and provide these directly to political prisoners and their families. Letters from the international community play a huge role in boosting the morale of prisoners, and donations are much needed to support the basic needs of prisoners and to help their family members visit from far-away provinces.

More information is available at ichrp.net/FreeThemAll

ICHRP Statement on Human Rights Day

As 2025 comes to a close, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. leads a regime in crisis. While the Marcos regime and its cronies profit from widespread corruption, it neglects the people during massive typhoons and leaves Filipinos to suffer. The Filipino people have responded with historic protests and growing clamor for genuine accountability for the corruption and human rights violations of ruling elites, including both the Duterte and Marcos camps.

Human Rights Situation

To entrench its rule and plunder of the people’s wealth, the Marcos regime conducts widespread fascist attacks on the Filipino people. The machinery of state terror that was built up during the US-Duterte regime remains in place. The Duterte-era fascist machinery, including the Anti-Terrorism Act, with its broad sweeping powers; the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC); along with the Philippine National Police and the AFP, have been expanded by the Marcos regime. The budget allocation for the NTF-ELCAC for 2026 exceeds P8 Billion, a 314% increase over 2025. This massive increase furthers the mechanisms to crush dissent and to violate the civil and political rights of citizens, while adding a new tool for the Marcos regime in the dispensing of funds garnered through corruption.

Despite its many attempts to cleanse its international image, these continued fascist policies under Marcos have produced widespread human rights violations. Since the regime came to power in July 2022, it has orchestrated 134 extra judicial killings, used illegal aerial bombardment against rural communities affecting 57,000 individuals, and forced 48,000 individuals to evacuate their communities due to militarization. In addition, it has detained almost 700 political prisoners (163 arrested under the Marcos regime), with at least 93 of them elderly. Political detainees include 12 peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), in violation of the GRP’s own Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees negotiated with the NDFP.

The United States Props Up the Marcos Regime

The Marcos regime and its crimes would not be sustainable without military, political, economic, financial, and diplomatic leadership from the United States and its allies. The recently released National Security Strategy of the United States of America defines a world order where American allies are defined as vassal states, and describes the “pivot to Asia” that projects the Philippines as a forward base in a war with China.

The US-Marcos Regime actively seeks further integration of the Philippines in US military alliances and an increase in deployments of US and foreign troops, as well as offensive weapons, in the country. US allies like Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are following the American model and pursuing their own military agreements with the regime. These measures erode Philippine independence and place it in the crosshairs of US-led militarism.

The Filipino People’s Surge of Resistance & International Solidarity

The Filipino people’s dissatisfaction with the current ruling system in the Philippines hit several peaks in 2025. The March ICC arrest of Duterte was the result of years of relentless struggle of his regime’s victims and their families, and the historic and ongoing protests against corruption displayed the people’s will for accountability and justice. 

In our efforts to build solidarity support for the Filipino people’s struggle, ICHRP’s activities in 2025 further exposed the basis of the people’s ongoing resistance. The ICHRP International Observers Mission of the mid-term elections exposed widespread vote-buying, cheating, and heavy militarization of rural communities. Meanwhile the October International Solidarity Mission uplifted the people’s struggle for land in the face of foreign development aggression and highlighted by the Philippine government’s crackdown on solidarity with many cases of harassment and surveillance of foreign delegates. 

Current Issues 

The widespread attacks on human rights in the Philippines are part of the attempts of the US-backed Marcos regime to squash the Filipino people’s assertion of their collective rights. 

In this context, we urge the international community and international institutions to stand with those who struggle for democracy and human rights in the Philippines. We call for continued pressure through international mechanisms and international solidarity to push the Philippine government to action. To this end, we call on:

• the International Criminal Court to continue its case against former President Duterte and pursue charges against his senior officials, who aided and abetted these war crimes. 
• the Philippine government to stop the bombings in civilian communities and production areas in the countryside, and other grave violations of international humanitarian law. 
• the Marcos government to respect all previously signed peace agreements with the NDFP, and release the nearly 700 political prisoners who remain in detention as one of many barriers laid by the Philippine government against a genuine peace process. 
• foreign governments to suspend all international aid to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and “counter-terrorism” programs which would train or place weapons in the hands of those committing these grave human rights violations. We call for the suspension of all international military support to the Marcos regime, including the tightening of German-Philippine relations and the continuing visiting forces agreements between the Philippines and the United States (VFA), Australia (SOVFA), New Zealand (SOVFA), Japan (RAA), and most recently, Canada (SOVFA).

Most importantly, this 2025 has seen ICHRP grow to over 80 member organizations across the world. We call on ICHRP members and people of good will to further join and expand ICHRP in the spirit of international solidarity. 

Find out more and submit your letter at ichrp.net/FreeThemAll!

This month, ICHRP is partnering with human rights alliance KARAPATAN to collect letters to political prisoners in the Philippines and deliver these directly to prisoners. Letter-writing raises the morale of political prisoners with concrete evidence of international solidarity for their struggle. Regular letters help deter abuse and neglect of prisoners by guards and the judicial system by demonstrating international attention for their case.

When we write letters together, we build collective action for political prisoners. Collective action can grow to include sending money to cover hearings to challenge their case in court or to buy life-saving medicine and sanitary products. It can also include sending books or art supplies to pass time in prison, or sending letters to local justices to advocate for their release or to vouch for their character and the work they do.

In your letter, you can write whatever you would like to include and believe appropriate to share. You can also include poetry, art, drawings, and other personal / collective artistic projects in scanned format.

Examples of what you can write about:

• Sympathies, encouragements, or expressions of solidarity with prisoners and their work
• Details about yourself that you’re comfortable sharing
• What encouraged you to write a letter? How did you learn about the person?
• Your personal involvement in organizations or campaigns for human rights, justice, and peace
• What are you inspired to do next (e.g. advocate their case, support a campaign, etc.)?

Head to ichrp.net/FreeThemAll for information about how to submit your letter. You will also find additional resources on political prisoners, and more information about our campaign.