Shots sliced through the early morning air of Dec. 27, 2024 when 14-year-old JP Osabel and 18-year-old Redjan Montealegre were killed on their walk home from a Christmas party in Brgy. Paguihaman, Uson, Masbate, allegedly at the hands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Though provincial police launched an investigation into the matter, no findings have yet been publicized over four months since the incident.
But JP and Redjan are hardly isolated cases. Cases of extrajudicial killings (EJK) by suspected soldiers, intimidation, and indiscriminate bombing plague Masbate against the backdrop of a 2018 memorandum by former President Rodrigo Duterte that intensified counterinsurgency efforts in the province.
In fact, the sheer number of human rights violations by elements of AFP in Masbate has led some human rights groups like Karapatan to condemn the military’s counterinsurgency efforts that have quickly turned the province into “Bicol’s killing fields.”
Attacks Intensified
Ten of the 19 EJK cases in Karapatan Bikol’s official tally under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term so far (July 2022 to December 2024) come from Masbate alone. This figure does not even capture the full extent of the killings, as the group has received reports that potentially bring the number of EJKs in the province to at least 37.
After they are slain, victims—most of whom are non-combatant farmers, consistent with the findings of Karapatan’s 2024 year-end report—were also painted by the AFP as supposed members of the New People’s Army (NPA) despite refutations from both the rebel group and the victims’ families themselves.
Coconut farmers Ronnel Abril and Roger Clores, who were killed in the dawn of Sep. 26, 2024 while they were tending to their copra, were two such victims of the military’s erroneous branding of civilians as rebels to justify their murders. Abril’s wife is now seeking an independent probe by the Commission on Human Rights after her family’s calls for an investigation were left unheeded.
Some victims were also taken from their houses by suspected members of the military—their corpses eventually found elsewhere, riddled with bullet holes and labeled rebels. Such was the case with spouses Pedro and Florencia Regala, 78 and 67 years old respectively, on Feb. 5, 2024.
“Dudukutin sa bahay, matatagpuan sa isang lugar, pinapalabas na nasabay sa engkwentro ng NPA. Matagal na yun na ginagawa sa Masbate. Marami nang case na na-investigate namin na ganyan yung ginagawa,” Nida Barcena, Karapatan Bikol secretary general, told the Collegian.
Fear Instilled
Beyond the killings, arrests over trumped-up charges—like with that of Dolores Bulo y Rapsing, Melanie Tupas Amor, and Nilo Mabuti Almoradie in October 2023—threats, and intimidation add to the level of unease among residents.
Mobo town resident Emmy Arcipe experienced first-hand such fear when she was called to the barangay hall of Brgy. Buenaventura, Uson by military officials as part of a routine summons in May 2021.
“Unang sinabi niya (opisyal ng militar) sa akin sa mataas na tono na mabuti na lang ay pumunta ako dahil kung hindi ay sila ang pupunta sa bahay at tiyak na masasaktan kami,” wrote Arcipe in a recounting, a copy of which was obtained by the Collegian.
It is this instilled fear among Masbate residents that impedes human rights missions to verify violations and document testimonies from victims and their families—adding to the geographic hurdle traveling to the province already poses.
“Doon sa maraming victim, ilan-ilan pa lang yung nakakarating [sa mga misyon namin]. Ang paliwanag ng mga human rights group doon, natatakot ang mga tao na magpa-interview dahil sa presensya ng mga sundalo at pulis,” said Barcena.
Presence Increased
In 2018, Duterte issued Memorandum 32 to deploy additional forces of the AFP and Philippine National Policein the provinces of Samar, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental and the Bicol region to “suppress lawless violence and acts of terror.”
For Masbate, this meant the deployment of the 2nd and 96th infantry battalions and a battalion-sized composition of special units to the province.
Counterinsurgency efforts have since intensified in the regions—the succession from Duterte to Marcos bearing little change at all—with Negros, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas also seeing the highest numbers of EJKs across the country under the Marcos regime, per Karapatan’s records.
But for the families of victims to obtain justice and the quiet of the mornings in Masbate to be restored, residents ask that it be made known that it was stolen from them first.
“Mahigpit yung panawagan ng mga residente na tulungan sila na ilabas yung tunay na kalagayan sa Masbate, at nanawagan ng accountability doon sa nagaganap na extrajudicial killings at pandukot,” said Barcena. ●
