28 June 2026
The International Coalition for Human
Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the
wilful killing of indigenous woman Nenita Buscada in
Bukidnon, Mindanao by the hands of the AFP’s 88th Infantry
Battalion (IB) last June 15.
Buscada went to gather
wood with her husband and two other civilians so they could
buy school supplies for their children. Soldiers from the
88th IB, who were conducting military operations in the
area, mistook her for a New People’s Army (NPA) fighter
and fired shots. She was declared dead on arrival in the
hospital, while her husband suffered wounds.
The
incident is a blatant violation of the principle of
distinction between combatants and civilians in
international humanitarian law (IHL) as well as in the
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and
International Humanitarian Law (CAHRIHL), which apply to the
ongoing armed conflict between the Philippine government and
the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Commander of the 88th IB Lt. Col. Arnold Bautista offered
hollow apologies after Buscada’s killing.
ICHRP
demands that the 88th IB be held accountable for their war
crimes. We also condemn the worsening militarization in
Mindanao and in other parts of the Philippine countryside,
particularly in peasant and indigenous communities—areas
which face the worst fascist attacks under brutal
counterinsurgency operations by the Philippine
state.
Justice for Nenita
Buscada!
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