AFP should be ashamed for using child of Red fighter as bait for psywar ops - NDFP

 

AFP should be ashamed for using child of Red fighter

 as bait for psywar ops
Coni Ledesma
NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children
September 26, 2026

The Armed Forces of the Philippines 93rd Infantry Battalion should be ashamed of themselves for using a child of an active duty Red fighter in Leyte to force her surrender. In a post on their official Facebook page, the 93rd IB shamelessly posted photos of the child on September 17th celebrating her 7th birthday in Kananga, Leyte while urging her mother to surrender to the reactionary state. The military did not even bother to use a pseudonym for the child, they also paraded her photo on social media. Broadcasting the child’s identity and utilizing photos of her birthday for a military objective effectively weaponizes her civilian status and is a severe violation of International Humanitarian Law. 

Under the Geneva Conventions, children are entitled to absolute “special respect and protection.” Not only did they violate the privacy of the minor by publishing  her real name, photo and location, the mere entry of the AFP into the child’s abode in the context of psywar operations targeting her mother is a form of cruel and inhuman treatment. Moreover, it signals to the public that her family and home is a military target and violates the principle of distinction that aims to protect civilians, especially children, from armed conflict. 

By staging a “birthday party” while simultaneously broadcasting an ultimatum of surrender to the mother, the 93rd IB is using the child as psychological leverage which is tantamount to hostage-taking. IHL defines hostage-taking not just as physical or unwilful confinement, but the act of exploiting a person to compel a third party to act or to surrender. 

This is not the first time that the AFP perfunctorily violated customary IHL laws and children’s rights by holding children hostage. In 2024, the 74th IB kidnapped several minors of the Arnesto family in Palapag, Northern Samar to force the surrender of their parents who were in active duty in the New People’s Army. In 2023, the 79th IB similarly took custody of “Baby Marx” in Negros Island to pressure both of his parents to surrender. 

The NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children remain committed to protecting the rights of Filipino children in the context of the ongoing civil war. We call on the Filipino public and child rights advocates to condemn these atrocious acts by the AFP’s 93rd IB under the command of their chief, Marcos Jr. There is no place for using children as bait in psywar operations – it is a line that, if crossed, must be met with absolute condemnation and resistance.