UP student, journalist killed in clashes
BACOLOD CITY—After the alleged encounters on April 19 that left 19 people dead in Toboso town, Negros Occidental, the military and the New People’s Army (NPA) are engaged in a word war over the real events on that day.
On Thursday, the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command in Negros said in a statement that among those killed were a small squad of revolutionary fighters while the rest were civilians and human rights advocates.
Ka Maoche Legislador, the spokesperson of the NPA command, said the NPA squad was led by Roger “Ka Jhong” Fabillar, who was one of the fatalities. Another was Roel Sabillo, a local farmer who was working at his uncle’s business at the time, he added.
“The rest were civilians documenting a peasant activity, standing alongside farmers who are consistently pushed to the margins by landgrabbing and systemic neglect,” Legislador said.
Also among the fatalities were RJ Nichole Ledesma, a journalist and cultural worker, and Alyssa Alano, a University of the Philippines (UP) student leader and peasant organizer.
Community immersion
Ledesma was affiliated with the alternative media group Paghimutad-Negros and served as a regional coordinator for Altermidya on Negros Island. Alano, on the other hand, was the Education and Research Councilor of the UP Diliman University Student Council (USC).
Both were reportedly in the area for community immersion and were looking into peasant conditions when they were killed.
The NPA called the military’s account of the encounter “a study in calculated exaggeration.”
“They were quick to parade a tally of 19 casualties, claiming each was an armed combatant. To bolster this claim, they presented 19 firearms allegedly recovered from the site … To believe the military’s account is to ignore their well-documented history of planted evidence and fabricated encounters,” it said.
The Philippine Army had reported that 19 NPA members were killed on April 19, in a series of armed encounters from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. involving soldiers of the 79th Infantry Battalion.
Military’s argument
“All of those killed were combatants who were bearing arms,” Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade, said on Thursday.
“If they were civilians, why were they in the area and bearing arms?” he asked.
Dumosmog said that so far, they have recovered 25 firearms, with two additional high-powered guns recovered from the encounter sites in Toboso.
According to Philippine Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala, recent claims on social media that those killed in the encounter in Toboso “were merely researchers, journalists, student leaders and social workers—and that the Philippine Army violated human rights and International Humanitarian Law [IHL]—deserve closer scrutiny rather than outright acceptance.”
While any loss of life is deeply concerning and warrants proper investigation, Dema-ala said it was also important to address a fundamental question: “Why were they at the encounter site itself, armed and in a firefight with soldiers?”
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, meanwhile, denounced the military operations, saying it will constantly monitor the situation for possible human rights and IHL violations.
“We call on the international community to amplify the calls for justice for all victims in Negros Occidental,” it said.
Altermidya Network, on the other hand, mourned the killing of Ledesma “who until his last breath served marginalized communities by immersing and reporting on their stories.”
The UP Diliman USC also strongly denounced the killing of Alano, describing her as an innocent civilian who lived and studied with farmers in Negros to better understand their situation amid land grabbing, exploitation and militarization.
“Alyssa bravely and wholeheartedly accepted the challenge of every Iskolar ng Bayan—to serve the people. We will never forget her,” it said. —WITH A REPORT FROM ANDREA GREGORIO
