Mindoro clash leaves 2 dead, rights groups decry summary killing, harassment of humanitarian mission

By Shan Kenshin Ecaldre

Bulatlat.com

ROXAS, Oriental Mindoro — A Mangyan-Hanunuo went to fetch water in the uplands of Barangay Happy Valley, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro on August 7, and hours later, was found dead. 

The woman was identified as Ising “Ka Mutya” Domingo by the Lucio de Guzman Command (LDGC) of the New People’s Army in Mindoro who, the NPA unit said in a statement to the media, was captured alive and unarmed. 

The NPA unit said that another Red fighter, Jomari “Ka Jonnel” Palomar, 26, was killed by the Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Battalion (1st IB). 

According to the NPA, Palomar, realizing that Domingo had not returned, went to search for her and encountered government troops. Armed only with a pistol, he was killed in the ensuing firefight. The NPA unit alleged that Domingo was tortured and executed after the clash, rather than being treated as a prisoner of war.

Under the Geneva Conventions, persons rendered hors de combat (unable to fight), through surrender, capture, or injury, must be spared from attack and treated humanely. If proven, Domingo’s killing constitutes a war crime.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the 2nd Infantry “Jungle Fighter” Division, tells a different story: a successful armed encounter that “neutralized two terrorist CPP-NPA members”, resulting in the seizure of two firearms. In his statement, Maj. Gen. Ramon P. Zagala hailed the incident as “a step toward peace in Southern Tagalog,” urging the remaining fighters to surrender.

Rights groups say these cases show a consistent pattern of the Armed Forces of the Philippines violating international humanitarian law by targeting captured or incapacitated combatants.

Harassment of humanitarian mission

On August 9–11, a humanitarian and fact-finding mission composed of paralegals and members of local progressive organisations traveled to Roxas to investigate the incident and assist the victims’ families.

They were met with harassment. Soldiers parked a military vehicle to block access to the funeral home where the bodies lay, aimed firearms at mission members, took photos and videos without consent, and played videos on loudspeakers and projectors.

“The military authority in Roxas only endangers the lives of the people. Subjecting the citizens and local government of Roxas into their mischievous acts, affirms the deliberate use of power and the de-facto Martial Law,” Ida Palo, Karapatan Southern Tagalog paralegal, said in a statement.

De facto martial law in Mindoro

For rights groups, the harassment reflects a long-standing pattern in Mindoro and Southern Tagalog, where checkpoints like those in Barangay Panaytayan, Mansalay subject residents and aid workers to questioning; where soldiers encamp in barangay halls and schools like in San Vicente, Roxas; where church workers and Mangyan leaders are red-tagged by the 203rd Infantry Brigade, as in 2022; and where military operations turn civilian zones into “free fire” areas, like the 2021 aerial strafing in Bongabong that displaced families and damaged farms.

In April 7 2024, Jay-El Maligday, a young farmer and criminology student accused of being an NPA member, was shot dead despite being reportedly in his home in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. In 2019, peasant organizer Hulyo Agtay died in military custody after alleged torture in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, and recently, Juan Sumilhig a farmer in Naibuan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro was also reportedly killed by government troops.

Karapatan Southern Tagalog described the situation, “They don’t need to declare martial law. They’re already exercising it.”

Mindoro has been under heavy militarization for decades. During the Arroyo administration’s Oplan Bantay Laya, the province was labeled a “priority counterinsurgency zone.” The Aquino-era Oplan Bayanihan maintained troop deployments in indigenous and farming communities. Under Duterte’s Executive Order 70 and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), continued by the Marcos Jr. administration,  the military presence has intensified, with operations frequently coinciding with large-scale mining, logging, and infrastructure projects in ancestral domains.

Indigenous resistance under attack

The killing of Palomar and Domingo came days before the commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a time where Indigenous advocates highlight the continued displacement of Indigenous peoples and the militarization of Indigenous communities.

In a statement, Katribu, a national alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, points to similar attacks: Dumagat communities in Rizal harassed to block participation in protests; aerial bombings in Quezon displacing peasant families; and intensified patrols in ancestral lands targeted for extractive and dam projects.

“These are not isolated incidents,” said Beverly Longid, Katribu’s national convenor. “They are part of a systematic campaign to silence Indigenous resistance and rural dissent.”

Domingo’s life is a testament to this hardship. Before joining the NPA, Domingo was presented as a “forced surrenderee” and subjected to unpaid labor under military custody. Her decision to go to the guerrilla front, the NPA-LDGC said, was “a choice to defend her community from the same forces that once abused her.”

Competing narratives, contested truth

The AFP maintains in its version of the events, that the August 7 operation was a legitimate encounter aimed at “freeing communities from the shadow of armed struggle.”

With independent investigators blocked from examining the bodies, the truth about what happened to Domingo and Palomar remains contested. What is not in question, the fact-finding team said, is the pattern: a state narrative enforced at gunpoint, and a countryside where “peace” often comes with the sound of boots on the trail and the silence of those too afraid to speak.

“We demand an immediate and independent investigation into the August 7 military operation, the unlawful removal of the victims’ remains, and the systematic intimidation of the fact-finding team. We call for the withdrawal of military forces from civilian communities, the restoration of civilian authority, and urgent protection for the Mangyan people and all vulnerable sectors in Roxas,” Palo said. (AMU, RVO)

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