NTF-Elcac flags ‘widening NPA recruitment’ after Negros clash
BACOLOD CITY—The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) has raised concern over what it described as a “troubling shift” in the recruitment practices of the New People’s Army (NPA), citing the alleged involvement of foreign nationals and minors in recent armed encounters in Negros Occidental and Samar.
In a statement on Monday, NTF-Elcac executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said the April 19 encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental, where 19 alleged NPA members were killed, reportedly included two American nationals identified as Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, based on police reports.
“Their deaths underscore how individuals from outside the country are now being drawn into local armed hostilities,” Torres said.
He also said two minors—Jolinda Jimena, 16, and Dexter Patoja, 17—were among those killed in Toboso, based on Philippine National Police findings and confirmation from their relatives.
“Their presence in a combat environment highlights the grave risks faced by young individuals who become involved in armed conflict,” Torres said.
‘Pattern’
In a separate incident in Samar on April 17, another minor identified as alias “John Paul” was killed in an armed encounter, according to the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division.
This brought to three the number of minors reported killed in combat in April, he said.
“Taken together, these cases present a pattern that cannot be dismissed,” Torres said, adding that the involvement of foreign nationals and minors suggests a widening recruitment reach into more vulnerable sectors.
He said the recruitment and use of minors in armed conflict violate international humanitarian law, as well as Republic Act No. 11188 (Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Act), Republic Act No. 7610, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
“Those responsible, particularly elements of the CPP–NPA–NDF, must be held accountable for these transgressions of both domestic and international law,” he said.
Torres also urged families, schools, and communities to remain vigilant against recruitment efforts targeting the youth.
“A movement that draws in children and foreign nationals into armed conflict is not demonstrating strength—it is revealing a critical strain that comes at the cost of human lives,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in the Negros Island Region (NIR) has begun its investigation into the Toboso encounter.
CHR-NIR chief Vincent Parra said the team visited the encounter site in Barangay Salamanca on Monday and conducted interviews.
They are also set to interview the parents of the two minors reported killed, Parra added.
