KARAPATAN assailed the Philippines’ removal from the United Nations (UN) list of grave child rights violations related to armed conflict, saying it does not reflect the reality on the ground.
KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay said that under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 11 children and youth have been killed extrajudicially under the government’s ongoing counter-insurgency drive.
“The first casualty was 9-year old Kyllene Casao, who was shot in the head by operating troops of the 59th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) on July 18, 2022, with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. barely three weeks in office. Less than a month later,” added Palabay, “16-year old Everly Kee Jacolbe was killed with her mother and a family friend at their home in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental and falsely portrayed as a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).”
Palabay likewise cited the killing of 17-year old Arjie Salvador who was killed while hunting in a forested area in Labo, Camarines Norte and incredibly made out as an NPA fighter allegedly killed with his own shotgun in a one-minute encounter.
In one of the most gruesome cases, 14-year old Ben Fausto and his 11-year old brother Ravin were killed with their peasant activist parents in their home in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on June 14, 2023. Two days later, on June 16, 2023, 17-year old Rey Belan was slain by 2nd IBPA soldiers while he was hunting for wild animals in Dimasalang, Masbate. The military said he was a member of the NPA, a claim denied by his family, friends and neighbors.
On June 8, 2024, Kuni Cuba, a 16-year old student from the Dulangan Manobo tribe was killed by 7th IBPA troops who chanced upon him and several other youth who were walking home from a community event. The military settled with Cuba’s family, but not before the 7th IBPA chief branded the youth before the media as an NPA commander killed in an encounter.
In Borongan, Eastern Samar, Jayson Padullo, a 16-year old student, was killed on June 15, 2025 when 63rd IBPA soldiers indiscriminately fired their weapons in his direction. He was on his way to his parents’ farm. Again, the military falsely claimed that he was NPA.
The latest victims were three Mangyan-Iraya children who were reportedly killed when combat helicopters dropped at least 12 bombs on a small village in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on January 1, 2026.
“Not a single officer or soldier has been held accountable for these killings,” decried Palabay. “It is this climate of impunity that emboldens the military to go on killing civilians, including children and youth, and cavalierly claim that they were killed in encounters or were just collateral damage.”
“No amount of drum-beating by the Marcos Jr. regime of this latest UN delisting can erase these documented killings of children and youth in the context of its counter-insurgency war,” stressed Palabay.
