What Happens to a People’s War when It Targets the People?

An investigative report on the IHL violations committed by the CPP-NPA-NDFP over the past decade.

MAKATI CITY—Today, August 14, is the last day of the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) at the New World Hotel.

For four days, more than 120 delegates from over 30 countries have discussed the law of armed conflict in plenary halls and side meetings, framed by polite diplomacy and polished talking points. The Philippine government, a State Party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, is hosting the largest regional IHL gathering to date.

Legal national democratic organizations have already made their stance clear about the proceedings. Karapatan and various groups staged protests at the conference venue, condemning the Marcos administration’s hosting of the event as “another act of hypocrisy and window-dressing before the international community.” The event, they say, intends to mask ongoing human rights and international humanitarian law violations under the current regime.

On paper, the conference aims to “galvanize commitment” to humanitarian law. In the coming days, we may learn what transpired behind closed doors. But for victims of human rights violations committed by the armed communist insurgency, there is only hope that the discussions will confront the five-decade record of abuses perpetrated by the country’s most enduring non-state armed group: the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP–NPA–NDFP).

Inside the hall, would there have been mention of the 1,999 documented violations of IHL attributed to the NPA between 2010 and 2022?

BUSINESS AS USUAL. KARAPATAN and other activist organizations protested the Asia Pacific IHL Conference in Makati yesterday, condemning the Marcos administration’s hosting as “hypocrisy and window-dressing” amid alleged on-going rights violations. Photo from KARAPATAN Facebook Page

What the record shows

The AFP Center for the Law of Armed Conflict keeps a tally. So do the UN’s monitoring bodies and former rebels who have turned against the insurgency. The numbers are granular, verifiable, and perhaps rarely presented in public forums like the one happening in Makati as of press time.

In this investigative report, Kontra-Kwento compiles and examines documented violations of international humanitarian law committed by the CPP–NPA–NDF in the course of its so-called people’s war, a protracted armed struggle waged, ironically, in the name of social justice. The findings reveal a stark contradiction between the movement’s professed ideals and its sustained pattern of conduct on the ground, where civilians, children, and protected humanitarian activities have repeatedly borne the brunt of its operations. Through verified data, case studies, and testimonies, this report lays bare the human cost of a campaign that claims liberation yet inflicts harm on those it purports to defend.

Lethal violence against civilians

“The intentional killing of civilians … whether by direct attack or through indiscriminate weapons, constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law.” Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions (AP I), Article 85(3)(c)

Between 2010 and 2022, the CPP–NPA was linked to 343 cases of willful killings, many targeting unarmed civilians in a direct violation of IHL’s most basic protections.

BLOOD DEBT. In its press statement, the NPA in Northern Negros claimed that Nobleza was "responsible for causing AFP’s treacherous raid against the NPA on April 2019" that allegedly martyred two of their comrades and a civilian. Photo courtesy of The Daily Guardian

In August 2022, the NPA executed 37-year-old Rodel Nobleza in Calatrava, Negros Occidental, accusing him of aiding the military and involvement in drug activities. Human Rights Watch condemned the killing describing it as "extrajudicial killing" following sham trials that lacked due process. International observers, meanwhile, criticized the NPA’s “People’s Courts” for lacking basic legal safeguards such as defense rights and fair trial standards.

Earlier, in October 2015, NPA gunmen abducted and executed Mayor Dario Otaza of Loreto, a member of the Monobo tribe in Agusan del Sur, along with his son Daryl. Otaza, a former rebel turned anti-insurgency advocate, had been working to help NPA members surrender and reintegrate. Their bound and bullet-riddled bodies were found in Butuan City, a chilling message to others who sought to leave the movement.

These incidents illustrate the NPA’s willingness to target individuals outside active hostilities, using lethal violence not for military necessity but as coercion and reprisal.

356TH AND 357TH LUMAD VICTIMS. In a letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a reader urged: “May the human rights group Karapatan show up and seek justice which Mayor Otaza’s family deserves—and, above all, sincerely help the Lumad fight for their land, life, and rights. Photo courtesy of Mindanews

Target not locked

“Attacks that strike civilian objects indiscriminately are forbidden, and the parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives.” — Rule 7 of Customary International Humanitarian Law

On that grounding, the NPA’s record is especially troubling: between 2010 and 2022, it caused 493 incidents of destruction of civilian property, including the burning of 1,159 vehicles and heavy equipment and the sabotage of 49 plantations and factories.

Most notable among them occurred on April 29, 2017, in Davao City. In a series of coordinated raids, NPA fighters torched three corporate facilities, Lapanday Foods Corporation’s box plant in Barangay Mandug, the Macondray Plastic Plant in Bunawan, and a rural ranch and banana plantation in Barangay Pangyan, Calinan District. During the attacks, 31-year-old fish vendor Larry Buenafe was struck by shrapnel from an explosive device. He died several days later in hospital, while three others were also wounded. The property losses were valued in the tens of millions of pesos.

GUTTED. NPA rebels launched coordinated attacks on three separate Lapanday Foods Corporation facilities in Davao City calling it "punitive action" against the Lorenzo family over alleged abuses against workers and Lumad, and opposition to land reform. Photo courtesy of Interaksyon.

Such deliberate destruction of civilian objects and targeted attacks on non-combatants stand in stark violation of international humanitarian law’s principle of distinction and its prohibition on destruction of civilian property not justified by military necessity.

Mind the mine

“Determined to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly innocent and defenceless civilians and especially children, obstruct economic development and reconstruction, inhibit the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons, and have other severe consequences for years after emplacement…” (From the Preamble of the 1997 Anti‑Personnel Mine Ban Convention)

From 2010 to 2022, the NPA is linked to 567 incidents involving anti-personnel mines, resulting in 143 military deaths and 44 civilian deaths. This is a grim record of indiscriminate violence.

In Samar on December 18, 2017, approximately 50 NPA fighters ambushed a convoy carrying food relief to storm-affected families. The operation, which included civilian aid workers, resulted in casualties among soldiers and at least one civilian—an explicit violation, given that relief missions are protected under IHL.

BLEAK CHRISTMAS. Just hours after attending a Christmas party, civilians, including those aboard an ambulance en route to Eastern Visayas Regional Hospital, fell victim to the tragic incident following an ambush by the NPA. Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN

Less than two years later, on December 13, 2019, Borongan, Eastern Samar was shaken by an explosion and gunfire that wounded 13 people—4 police officers and 9 civilians, including a 3-year-old child. A barangay captain grimly reported, “We found shell casings all over the road…Some of our neighbors will carry those scars for life.”

Then on June 6, 2021, a tragic incident in Masbate: an anti-personnel mine wounded and killed civilians during a quiet afternoon. Among the victims were footballer Kieth Absalon, his cousin Nolven Absalon, and a teenage boy—relatives all—who were out for what should have been a peaceful ride. The NPA later claimed the device was meant for military targets—yet the blast struck unarmed civilians.

The CPP-NPA routinely claims that their command-detonated explosives do not violate the APMBC. International humanitarian law, however, prohibits any weapon that cannot be used without indiscriminate effects, regardless of triggering method. The Samar relief convoy ambush, the Borongan explosion, and the Masbate blast show that these devices have repeatedly struck civilians, humanitarian actors, and protected activities. The APMBC’s core purpose is to prevent exactly such outcomes, and altering the detonation method does not excuse the NPA’s unlawful and deadly use.

A pattern with children

“Children shall be the object of special respect and shall be protected against any form of indecent assault; parties to a conflict shall provide them with the care and aid they require.” — Article 77(1), Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.

From 2010 to 2022, there were 578 documented cases of children involved in armed conflict linked to the NPA — 7 killed, 66 rescued, and 461 who surrendered as NPA fighters.

The UN Secretary-General’s seventh report on Children and Armed Conflict in the Philippines (covering January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023) verified 58 grave violations involving 43 children. Non-state armed groups were responsible for 84 percent of those violations, with the NPA accounting for 24 incidents. These included recruitment and use in combat, killing and maiming, and attacks on schools.

While the UN noted a 49 percent drop in the total number of cases compared to the previous period, the NPA remained the single largest violator — a persistence that reflects the movement’s systemic use of children despite explicit prohibitions under international law.

This disregard is not incidental. In its Declaration and Program of Action for the Rights, Protection and Welfare of Children, the NDFP openly criticized certain IHL instruments for being “prejudicial to liberation movements.” The document singles out the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, claiming it “has a clear bias against liberation movements…” and more broadly condemning provisions that, in its words, “practically require children to be physically and even permanently separated from parents.”

By framing universally recognized child protection standards as an obstacle to their cause, the CPP-NPA-NDFP effectively seeks to carve out an exemption for itself from the very laws meant to shield children from the trauma and dangers of war.

Extortion as policy

The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices noted the NPA’s long-standing practice of targeting businesses, farms, power stations, and communication facilities to enforce “revolutionary taxes.”

Former rebels describe these as organized campaigns: letters sent, deadlines given, and attacks carried out when demands are refused.

“They see it as part of the war,” said one ex-political officer from Mindoro. “If you don’t pay, you’re an enemy — even if you’ve never carried a gun.”

But the CPP–NPA’s portrayal of revolutionary taxation as a legitimate public service levy collapses under scrutiny. International humanitarian law makes no provision for armed groups to impose compulsory payments on civilians or businesses, and such demands, especially when backed by the threat of armed reprisal, constitute extortion. Claims of funding community projects mask the reality that these “taxes” finance armed operations and coercive control. Far from filling a governance vacuum, the practice undermines lawful authority, disrupts local economies, and subjects communities to violence and intimidation.

Behind the numbers

The figures have been compiled from incident reports, field investigations, and testimonies from former rebels themselves. UN verification follows a stricter standard, requiring corroboration by multiple sources. But both sets of records point to the same conclusion: violations are not occasional lapses but part of a recurring pattern over decades.

From the perspective of former CPP leader Arian Jane Ramos, the rules were clear for the NPA—but bent as needed.

“In the people’s war, the NPA practically treats civilians as collateral damage when its fighters are at fault. No one truly faces appropriate punishment, because disciplinary action against erring fighters and commanders is weighed against the risk that they might desert or abandon the army,” Ramos said.

She says that hosting the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on IHL offers the Philippines a platform to showcase compliance and leadership. But she says that behind the documented record of CPP-NPA violations, and the absence of sustained public discussion about them, is an unspoken tension. Now a peace advocate, her position is blunt: these violations must be condemned with the same energy often reserved for alleged state abuses.

“Genuine respect for IHL is proven through actions,” she says. “The NPA’s track record shows a pattern of disregard for these laws. Karapatan and the other organizations that are quick to blame the state for alleged abuses must keep this in mind.”

Ramos also says that instead of consistently rescuing fallen comrades or bailing out NPA commanders, they would have more credibility if they “demand accountability for all the IHL violations” the NPA has committed for five decades.

When the final session wraps today, delegates will leave with binders of recommendations on cyber operations, autonomous weapons, and national legislation. Ramos, also currently the Head of Legal Affairs of national former rebels federation Buklod Kapayapaan, says the struggle to demand justice for the CPP-NPA-NDFP’s victims should be built in our peace-building efforts and mechanisms. “

Outside the conference halls, in the communities where company trucks and facilities were gutted, where the Borongan shrapnel tore through a child’s leg, and where the Absalon family buried two of their own, International Humanitarian Law is not a concept debated in plenary. It is a promise they have yet to see kept.