KARAPATAN condemned the shooting by suspected military agents of a pregnant member of the New People’s Army (NPA) that left the victim paralyzed below the waist.
According to an online post from PH News Today, military agents shot Arnida Cuaton Maguiguilid in the back on September 19, 2026 as she was about to enter the gate of the boarding house she was staying in Barangay Visayan, Tagum City. She was on medical leave from the NPA, unarmed and seven months pregnant.
Maguiguilid was brought to hospital by her housemate, where she was seized by elements of the 603rd Infantry Brigade and the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. She was presented before the media on September 24 as a “surrenderee”. The military also told the public that it was the NPA that shot Maguiguilid.
“The shooting of Maguiguilid is a violation of international humanitarian law,” said KARAPATAN deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule. “The pregnant NPA member, also vulnerable due to her condition, clearly had hors de combat status. Despite this, she was shot in the back, which crippled her and endangered her unborn child as well.”
In another incident, the 93rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) published in its Facebook page the pictures of a 7-year old child to pressure her mother, an NPA guerrilla, to surrender. The IBPA made a show of throwing a birthday party for the child and published photos of it online as part of a psywar operation. “The publication of the child’s pictures for military purposes violated child rights and was likewise contrary to international laws of war,” said Taule.
Taule stressed that the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 states that civilians, especially children, must be treated humanely. Posting the child’s name, photograph and location while giving her mother an ultimatum to surrender was not only inhumane and exploitative, it was tantamount to holding the child hostage to compel her mother to do something against her will, she said.
KARAPATAN called on women and child rights activists, as well as human rights defenders and advocates here and abroad to condemn these incidents, help the victims pursue justice and hold the AFP accountable for these serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.