Party-list nominee among fatalities in Negros clashes

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines —A nominee of the Kabataan party-list group and a student activist were among 19 people killed in a series of clashes that occurred recently in Toboso, Negros Occidental, rights groups said yesterday.

Meanwhile, five alleged rebels who were reported to have fled during the firefights in Barangay Salamanca were arrested on Wednesday night in Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City.

The military identified those arrested as Glemmar Bacusmo, Julie Balora, Judy Caramihan, Danny Boy Pacheco and Jerome Seballos.

Rights groups Karapatan and Human Rights Advocates Negros (HRAN) confirmed that RJ Nichole Ledesma, a local journalist and nominee of the Kabataan party-list group during the 2022 elections, was killed in the clashes.

In a statement, the University of the Philippines-Diliman confirmed that one of the fatalities, Alyssa Alano, was member of the UP student council.

Ledesma was reportedly a former leader of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) Bacolod chapter.

Citing claims by the HRAN, the local community media outfit Altermidya Network said that Ledesma was not in the area when the firefight occurred in Sitio Sinugmawan.

The Altermidya Network said Ledesma was killed in a pursuit operation in a nearby peasant community in Sitio Plarinding located in the same barangay.

The UP student council said that Alano, an education research councilor, was chairperson of the LFS UP chapter.

The Army on Thursday rejected claims that some of the fatalities are civilians.

Army spokesman Col. Louie Dema-ala debunked social media posts identifying the fatalities as researchers, journalists, student leaders and social workers.

Dema-ala said that netizens should scrutinize and not just accept outright these posts.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said that all those killed were members of the New People’s Army, citing accounts of former NPA guerrillas who helped the AFP identify the fatalities.

The Communist Party of the Philippines said only a “small squad of revolutionary fighters led by Roger ‘Ka Jhong’ Fabillar” was involved in the Toboso encounters.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. defended the legitimacy of the military operation in Negros Occidental and questioned the presence of supposed students, teachers or social workers in the area allegedly occupied by armed communist rebels.

“If they were indeed students or teachers or social workers, what were they doing in the area? Why were they with the NPA rebels?” Teodoro asked.

Activist groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan will hold a rally today in front of Camp Aguinaldo to condemn what they described as a massacre of 19 people in Toboso. — Janvic Mateo, Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas