Operating troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines fired their weapons indiscriminately on a group of peasants in Roxas village, Catubig, Northern Samar province on 8 February. Two children, aged 12 and 9 years old were killed. Another child was seriously wounded. The children were with their parents tending their coconut kiln when fired upon by the AFP troopers.

The Communist Party of the Philippines condemned “in the strongest terms” the indiscriminate firing of weapons against civilians and the killing of the two children. CPP Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena said the killing of the children is “the latest fascist crime of the AFP… It is part of the AFP’s heightening attacks against peasants in its increasingly brutal war in the rural areas.”

Valbuena said these are “acts of war against civilians” aimed at terrorizing the people and suppressing their resistance to defend their land against military occupation of their communities and the encroachment of mining companies and plantations.

Coni Ledesma, Head of the NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children, condemned the AFP troopers for the killings. “These fascist AFP terrorists are heartless and despicable. The AFP and the Duterte regime have, time and again, proven they are guilty of crimes against humanity,” she said.

Ledesma decried the ‘fake news’ being spread by the AFP and Duterte government officials that there was an armed encounter between the AFP and the New People’s Army, and that the children were caught in the crossfire. The NPA Efren Martires Command and the NDFP Eastern Visayas chapter reported that there was no armed encounter in the village. Moreover, one of the victims confirmed that AFP troopers fired at them.

In a separate statement, the NDFP Eastern Visayas chapter stressed that the incident is a “war crime”. They said criminal accountability clearly lies on the heads of 20th Infantry Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Joemar Buban, 8th Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, Philippine Army Commander Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centeno. “The number one butcher-terrorist and mastermind of the all-out war of the state against civilians, Rodrigo Duterte, must be equally held accountable.”