In quest for justice

ON JANUARY 3, 2025 the families of slain staff members of the National Democratic Front (NDF) turned to the Supreme Court to appeal the dismissal by the Ombudsman of a war crimes case filed in 2019 against high-ranking officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The case stems from a joint PNP-AFP operation on August 15, 2018, during which government troops killed seven individuals who allegedly resisted the service of a warrant of arrest. The casualties – Felix Salditos, Peter Mecenas, Jayson Talibo, Liezel Bandiola, Jason Sanchez, Eldie Labinghisa, and Karen Ceralvo – were, according to the NDF, unarmed members of its staff who were killed while already under the custody of state forces.

The government, on the other hand, claimed that all the victims were New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who died during a firefight. However, autopsies conducted by the Commission on Human Rights revealed blunt force trauma injuries unrelated to the gunshot wounds that ultimately killed the victims, indicating that they were physically abused before being executed.

In August 2019, the victims’ families filed with the Ombudsman a complaint for War Crimes under Republic Act No. 9851 and Murder against the commanding officers of the PNP and AFP units that took part in the operation. They also asked the Ombudsman to subpoena police and military records related to the operation in order to aid in the investigation.

The Ombudsman, however, dismissed the complaint without requiring the production of these records. It concluded that the victims’ families failed to substantiate their allegations and that the police and military officials involved enjoyed the “presumption of regularity” in the performance of their duties.

In their recently filed petition for certiorari, the victims’ families, assisted by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the Ombudsman’s dismissal of the case. They argued that there was sufficient forensic evidence to indict the PNP and AFP officers in question and to investigate other government troops who may have taken part in the deadly operation. They added that the government failed in its duty under domestic and international law to thoroughly investigate and prosecute these egregious violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

The Ombudsman’s dismissal of the charges, based on the questionable application of the “presumption of regularity” principle and the refusal to subpoena crucial documents, has denied justice to the victims and their families and reinforced impunity in the country.

In 1998, the Philippine government and the NDF entered into the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), an instrument that requires both parties to abide by international human rights and humanitarian standards in the conduct of hostilities. Even without the CARHRIHL, parties to an armed conflict are bound by international humanitarian law, which prohibits the targeting and killing of civilians, prisoners of war, persons hors de combat, or those who are not or no longer taking part in hostilities. Both international law and RA 9851 proscribe such killings as war crimes.

By appealing to the Supreme Court, the victims’ families hope to secure justice and accountability for the 2018 massacre, in contrast to the impunity that has so far marked countless cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations committed by state forces in the government’s brutal counterinsurgency campaign.

We call on the Supreme Court to ensure that the Philippine government complies with its legal obligations to strictly apply humanitarian and human rights law during armed conflict and to investigate and punish crimes attributed to state forces.

We urge the public, civil society organizations, and justice advocates to support the victims’ families in their pursuit of truth and accountability. In so doing, we give more strength to the fight against impunity. Let the ‘Antique 7 Massacre’ serve as a reminder that the victims’ lives will not be forgotten and that, ultimately, justice must prevail. – PANAY ALLIANCE KARAPATAN <panaykarapatan@gmail.com>