Human rights alliance Karapatan today called on the Commission on Human Rights to immediately conduct an independent investigation into the gruesome massacre of four members of the Fausto family in Sitio Kangkiling, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, on June 14, 2023.

Negros-based human rights groups and media have confirmed the killing of peasant activists Roly Fausto, 55, and his wife Emelda, 50, who were members of the Baclayan, Bito, Cabagal Farmers and Farmworkers Association (BABICAFA), and their sons Ben, 15, and Ravin, 12.

On June 14, 2023, at about 10:00 p.m., gunshots were heard throughout the community. Residents thought there was an encounter between soldiers and members of the New People’s Army (NPA). Early the next morning, sprawled dead bodies of Emelda and her two sons Ben and Ravin Fausto were found in their hut. Photos show Emelda’s cadaver was just outside their hut’s doorway, while her skull and left leg were evidently shattered. A bloodied body of a boy, with his right leg mutilated, was found in a separate doorway at the back, and another boy’s body was found inside the hut. Roly’s remains were found near the hut.

According to local human rights groups, Roly and Emelda were subjected to continuous harassment from soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the past months.

On March 22, 2022 around 7 a.m. when Emelda was going home from doing laundry, she heard two gunshots. When she arrived, she saw a number of armed men in uniform surrounding their house, and estimated that there were at least 12 armed men in military uniform, while others were in civilian clothes. The soldiers then interrogated Emelda, one of them played with his knife in front of her. Some soldiers illegally searched their house, scattering their clothes and possibly pocketing their family’s money worth P5,000 hidden in their clothes. The soldiers also reportedly slaughtered five of their chickens.

When Roly arrived at their hut at 10 a.m., soldiers also interrogated him and forcibly brought him to a vacant hut near the Fausto’s home to continue the interrogation. The soldiers tied Roly’s neck with a belt, forced him to confess that he is a member of the NPA, and to reveal the names of other NPA members. He was also kicked twice in his shoulders. At around 1:00 p.m., the soldiers brought Roly back to his family’s hut. At 7:00 p.m., Roly was taken to the military detachment in Barangay Hilamonan, Kabankalan City where he was interrogated and coerced to admit that he is a member of the NPA. He was physically assaulted and was forced to serve as the soldiers’ guide for their military operations.

Emelda also reported two incidents in April and May 2023 of alleged illegal searches in their hut.

Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said that the continuing military deployment and operations in communities in Negros have put the island under a de facto martial rule, where State forces have gone on killing sprees, terrorizing peasants and their communities, under the pretext of implementing the Marcos Jr. administration’s counter-insurgency program through Memorandum Order No. 32.

“No one has been investigated, prosecuted and made accountable for these heinous crimes, despite evidence of the military’s involvement in these incidents. This inaction on cases indicate the Marcos Jr. administration’s role in perpetuating these dire violations on human rights and the state of impunity in Negros,” Karapatan said.

As the human rights group addressed their call to the CHR, Karapatan also called on the Committees of Human Rights at the House of Representatives and the Senate to conduct similar investigations.

“While investigations on the murder of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo are ongoing, numerous cases involving peasants and farmworkers in Negros are left unaddressed. It is a pity that ordinary folks’ lives are seen as unimportant in the eyes of our legislators,” Palabay said.

Karapatan reiterated its call for the rescinding of Memorandum Order No. 32 and for the Marcos Jr. administration to halt military operations in Negros and communities nationwide.