The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) lauded the Commission on Human Rights’ (CHR) condemnation of the murder of 74-year-old Leonora Anguit outside her home in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, after being allegedly branded as a spy by the New People’s Army last February.

“The CHR’s words cut through all attempts to justify violence with ideology. As the Commission firmly declared, ‘no ideology can justify the taking of civilian lives,'” NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres, Jr. said in a statement over the weekend.

He added that Anguit’s killing is not an isolated incident, stressing that it reflects a disturbing and well-documented pattern of so-called “spy-tagging,” where civilians are accused without evidence and executed without due process.

Torres also said the CHR emphasized that “the perpetrators must be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” a call that resonates with the growing demand for justice from communities long terrorized by these acts.

“NTF-ELCAC has consistently raised alarm over this pattern of violence. The CHR itself noted a series of killings in the Negros Island Region involving multiple civilian victims, warning that these successive killings pose a grave threat to the right to life, the right to security in one’s home, and endanger the peace and safety of communities,” he added.

These are not mere incidents — they are systematic violations that erode the very fabric of our communities, Torres said. Equally important is the CHR’s clear reminder that “even non-state actors are bound to respect international humanitarian law and human rights standards, including the obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants at all times.”

Torres said this confirms that armed groups cannot evade accountability by hiding behind ideology or revolutionary claims.

“The CHR’s directive to law enforcement is likewise decisive. Its call to ‘undertake prompt and impartial investigations to ensure full accountability and deliver justice to the families of the victims’ is a necessary step toward ending the cycle of impunity,” he added. (PNA)