As human rights violations surge in communities, Marcos Jr. mingles with fascist AFP

[KARAPATAN Public Information]

PRESS RELEASE

December 11, 2025

Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831

KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580

Marcos Jr. jams with fascist AFP as HRVs flood in from communities

While human rights workers and other activist groups took to the streets to denounce growing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, look how Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spent International Human Rights Day—with battalion commanders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP).

Said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, “Marcos Jr. reportedly called on his fellow fascists to have ‘stronger engagement with communities’—meaning we can expect heightened militarization in villages nationwide and the intensified rights violations that come with it.”

Even as Marcos Jr. rubbed elbows with his security people, reports continue to flood in about human rights violations in hinterland communities.

On December 2, a Mangyan Iraya farmer, Dolores Solangon, 47, was abducted in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro at around 1:30 p.m. and tortured for hours by soldiers from the 76th IBPA. The troopers accused her of being a member of the New People’s Army and tied her to a tree while interrogating her. After enduring three hours of such torture, she was transported to a mountainous area where she suffered another round of torture from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. She was gagged, forced to dig her own grave, and threatened with death if she attempted escape.

In Bicol, malicious red-tagging posters have been circulating in several cities and municipalities across Albay, Sorsogon and Camarines Sur targeting Tarabang para sa Bicol Inc. (TABI), a grassroots-oriented development group that has served more than 100 barangays across Bicol, reaching tens of thousands of families through disaster response, psycho-social support, medical missions and sustainable agriculture initiatives. Targeted by the red-taggers were TABI executive director Aubrey Verzosa and Dr. Rose Sambo, a faculty member of Sorsogon State University and long-time TABI consultant.

The Redemptorist Community also reported red-tagging posters showing the faces of Jojo Samar and Julie Bega, both lay partners working with the religious order’s Legazpi Mission. The posters, which were plastered on December 1, 2025 in several parts of Albay, especially in Legazpi City and nearby municipalities, showed the faces of organizers and participants of an anti-corruption rally held in Legazpi City on November 30 as part of coordinated protests nationwide led by the Kilusang Bayan Kontra Kurakot.

Axell Bergula, a member of Kabataan Partylist–Tacloban, also reported harassment, a day after he joined a protest action on November 30 against corruption. According to Bergula, members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) went to his parents’ home to “warn” him and pressure him to stop engaging in such activities.  

In Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, the whereabouts of an indigenous farmer, Lito Pacheco, remain unknown since he went missing on November 3, 2025 in Sitio Cantupa, Barangay Buenavista. His abductors are suspected to be elements of the 79th IBPA, who have been encamped in the sitio for three months now. The soldiers have reportedly been harassing residents and illegally searching their houses.

In Cauayan, Negros Occidental, soldiers belonging to the 15th IBPA also reportedly burned down the house of farmer Carmelita Ulgasan in Sitio Mantobaw, Purok 3 in Barangay Linaon during a military operation.

This endless stream of violations involving Marcos Jr.’s fascist minions in the military are clear indications of his regime’s contempt for the people’s human rights, said Palabay. #

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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.