Soldiers, policemen and civilians recruited as paramilitary or vigilantes continue to engage in gross violations of people's rights. Frequently they occur in connection with counter-insurgency operations in certain parts of the country, but in an alarmingly big number of cases, in relation to suppressing legitimate protest waged by people in opposition to unpopular projects. Government forces of the Estrada administration are responsible for the death of six individuals killed through summary execution and the assault and beating of 70 others. The abuses have been notable in areas where military operations are ongoing or intensifying as in parts of Mindanao, Negros and Bohol in the Visayas and Quezon and Palawan in Luzon. Most of those killed or beaten were members and leaders of local organisations of farmers, indigenous people or fisherfolk, all for whom Estrada claims his heart bleeds.
Fanatic groups are back, bringing to mind the total-war tactics used by the Aquino military.
The military in Maguindanao has armed a group of civilian fanatics for counter-insurgency purposes. The MDF became involved in the harassment last October of Tiruray farmers in Upi town who are putting up an organisation. Pulahans, an armed fanatical group in Bukidnon being built up by the military, destroyed 30 Manobo houses last October, and tortured and killed two men, Jimbot Rama and Antonio Bantiles, who were trying to defend their homes from the Pulahans' torches. The men's bodies were first hacked before they were thrown into the burning huts. The Pulahans are trying to intimidate Manobo communities engaged in a legal battle with a big corporation for the control of more than 1,000 hectares of a plantation.