Green groups sound alarm over AFP plans to bomb Rizal’s ‘key biodiversity sites’

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) expressed “grave concern” over reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is planning to bomb the area around Brgy. Mascap in Montalban, Rizal, citing possible impacts on local communities and biodiversity.

“It is nothing short of alarming that the AFP is considering bombing critical ecosystems in the province of Rizal,” said Jon Bonifacio, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE. “As we continue to face issues like climate change and environmental degradation, these plans of the AFP are nothing short of criminal.”

Last April 6, on Maundy Thursday, online reports circulated regarding the forced evacuation of 80 families from Brgy. Mascap. The reports mentioned that these evacuations were conducted ahead of planned military operations and the bombing of the area, in response to the reported New People’s Army (NPA) presence in the area.

Kalikasan PNE noted that Brgy. Mascap is within or near internationally-identified key biodiversity areas such as Mounts Irid-Angilo and Binuang, as well as nationally-declared protected areas such as the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape. Endangered amphibians, birds, mammals, and plants have been documented in these areas, including the critically-endangered Philippine Eagle.

“The bombing campaigns of the AFP in recent months, from Negros island to Mindanao to Cagayan Valley and now Rizal, are putting communities and key biodiversity areas at risk,” said Bonifacio. “It is one thing to engage with the NPA fairly on the battlefield. It is another thing entirely to indiscriminately put people and the planet in harm’s way.”

The group has documented at least 8 separate incidents of indiscriminate bombing and artillery shelling by the AFP under the Marcos Jr. administration. Nearly all of which have been confirmed to have been part of counter-insurgency measures of the military against the NPA.

To resolve the issue, Kalikasan PNE urged the national government to once again engage in formal peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and work towards resolving the root causes of armed conflict. #