5 rebel leaders among 19 fatalities in Negros clashes

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Five of the 19 New People’s Army guerrillas killed in a series of encounters in Toboso, Negros Occidental recently were allegedly key leaders of the NPA’s Komiteng Rehiyonal Northern Negros Front, according to Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, chief of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade.

Dumosmog said the military is waiting for confirmation from forensics experts that one of those retrieved at the encounter sites in Sitios Sinugmawan and Plaringding in Barangay Salamanca is a foreign national.

The military identified the alleged rebel leaders as Glenmar Bacosmo, secretary of the Northern Negros Front, and his deputy known by the aliases Pat and Salem; Roger Favillar, chief of the Special Operations Group and Sentro de Gravidad of the Northern Negros Front, and his deputy, Pedro  Bonghanoy, and Rene Villarin Sr., vice squad leader of the same rebel unit.

Favillar, who carried a bounty of P2 million, had been linked to 36 murder incidents in Northern Negros since 2025, Dumosmog said.

The number of firearms recovered at the scene has increased to 24 including 14 rifles, an M203 grenade launcher, six pistols, three revolvers, two rifle grenades and a fragmentation grenade.