KARAPATAN denounces recent EJK of three civilians in Iloilo, Samar
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS STATEMENT
10 October 2025
References: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN denounces recent EJK of three civilians in Iloilo, Samar
KARAPATAN condemned the extrajudicial killing of three elderly civilians in Iloilo and Samar as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, and called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an independent and full-blown investigation.
According to reports from Panay Alliance Karapatan, Mateo Suarez, 71 and Roberto Cabales, 68, were killed by soldiers in Barangay Coto, Lambunao town on October 5, 2025 in what the military claimed was an “encounter” while serving a warrant. Witnesses said, however, that no firefight took place between the victims and the security forces.
Suarez and Cabales were former political prisoners who had long been living as civilians in their home towns.
In Samar, elements of the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) and paramilitary forces killed 65-year old peasant Veronico Anterio on September 16, 2025 in Barangay Carolina, Matuguinao town. Anterio had been vocal in his denunciation of the limitations imposed by the military on the number of hours the villagers could work on their farms and how much food they could bring as baon. He was especially angry when he did not even receive an apology from the soldiers after they trampled on and ruined his newly planted palay crop during a military operation.
These extrajudicial killings, KARAPATAN said, were committed in the name of counter-insurgency measures under the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development, which legitimizes military operations against civilians in communities.
KARAPATAN denounced the profiling and targeting of elderly and defenseless civilians and called on the CHR to determine the truth behind the killings to attain justice for Suarez, Cabales, and Anterio and hold the perpetrators accountable.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.