Under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), state and non-state combatants are duty bound to ensure that means and methods of armed conflicts are neither excessive nor disproportionate to their objectives. Expedient and feasible precautions must thus be made by parties involved in order to avoid harm to innocent civilians.
To this end, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) strongly condemns the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) during a clash against soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Masbate on 22 March 2023. This violent act goes directly against the very principles of the IHL. We further note that according to news reports, the IED was detonated near a public elementary school in Barangay Locso-on, leaving two soldiers and a minor injured.
The Commission underscores that schools are zones of peace. They must be free from the presence of armed combatants at all times. As the country’s independent national human rights institution, CHR, through its office in Region V, has already met with local agencies, such as the Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Philippine National Police to provide assistance to students, teachers, and other school employees who were subjected to panic and trauma caused by the incident.
CHR also continues to stress that no ideology can justify the endangerment of the right to life, liberty, and security of the Filipino people. We have always called for the end of armed conflict and the grave consequences it imposes upon those involved and those affected. Time and again, we have witnessed the harrowing impacts and violations to the fundamental human rights and dignity these encounters bring to society.
In our consistent work to monitor the government’s fulfillment of its domestic and international human rights obligations, such as the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols, CHR also calls upon all parties and leaders involved in armed conflicts to seek just and peaceful resolutions.
We echo United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ pronouncement that, “There is no military solution to any conflict.” Only through transparency, cooperation, and genuine understanding can we build durable and lasting solutions that address the root causes of conflict within and among our communities. ###