The Commission on Human Rights strongly condemns the alleged strafing of a house in Palapag, Northern Samar on Saturday, 20 June 2020, and calls for justice for the family of Jolina Calot, a student of the University of Eastern Philippines and a member of the League of Filipino Students.

The reported violent attack of Calot’s home, allegedly by members of the Northern Samar Police Mobile Force Company and the 20th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army, resulted to the death of her farmer father and a companion while Jolina, her mother, and sibling were left wounded by the incident. Her father and his companion were reported to be falsely red-tagged by law enforcement agencies.

The state’s haphazard labelling of individuals as affiliated to communist or leftist terrorist groups directly threatens the lives or safety of individuals. Red tagging in the context of the increasing extrajudicial killings in rural Philippines and the government’s counterinsurgency programme, may be seen as a manifestation of repression and the criminalisation of political dissent.

The Commission extends its deepest sympathy to the families of the fallen farmers and commits to conduct an independent investigation of the case. We call on the local government of Northern Samar to equally probe the violent incident and deliver immediate justice to the victims. ###