House reso to probe ‘indiscriminate’ aerial bombings filed

MANILA, Philippines — Makabayan bloc lawmakers have filed on Wednesday a House resolution seeking to investigate the military’s conduct of aerial bombings in rural areas and its impact on residents in the affected communities, especially children. 

Since 2022, rights groups and peasant organizations have reported a number of casualties from military airstrikes and other combat operations in several areas, including Cagayan, Rizal, and Oriental Mindoro, among others.

House Resolution 1135 seeks to investigate the effect of the military’s supposed “indiscriminate aerial bombings, shelling, and strafing” and how this poses a threat to children’s mental and emotional well-being. 

“These attacks have caused the children immense physical and emotional trauma, leaving them with long-term psychological damage; of these combat operations on the residents living in areas where,” the House resolution read.

The military typically employs a number of methods, including dropping bombs, to draw out members of the New People's Army in rural areas.

According to rights group Karapatan - Rizal, at least 250 families had to evacuate their homes after the military allegedly threatened to bomb communities in Rodriguez, Rizal in April. This was later denied by the Philippine Army's 80th Infantry Battalion, which at the time had recently engaged in armed encounters with suspected communist rebels in Rizal.

Meanwhile, at least 1,254 residents in Cagayan have been affected by aerial bombing assaults from January 2022 to March 2023, more than half of whom were displaced in 2023 alone, according to Tanggol Magsasaka. 

In June, a "significant increase" in military airstrikes in rural communities also prompted the international rights group Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) to launch a monitoring platform for bombing incidents in the Asia-Pacific Region.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to the alarming increase in aerial bombings and indiscriminate firing on communities, especially when it comes to the welfare and safety of our children," Rep. Arlene Brosas emphasized.

Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women's Party) also stressed that there is a seeming "contradiction" between the increase in military combat operations and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s recent pronouncement of amnesty for rebels during the second State of the Nation Address.

Brosas said that if the president was "sincere in his offer of peace," the government must halt the military airstrikes on communities.

"This state-perpetrated violence raises concerns about the government's commitment to peace and the protection of children's rights. The government must ensure that the military is held accountable for any violations of international humanitarian law and the rights of children," Brosas added.