By CESAR JOLITO III
Relatives have claimed the remains of at least eight of the 19 alleged New People’s Army (NPA) members killed in the April 19 armed encounters in Negros Occidental’s Toboso town, the Police Regional Office in the Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) said.
Among those identified and claimed was 36-year-old Roger Fabillar Tapang, described by authorities as the head of the special operations unit of the dismantled Northern Negros Front (NNF).
Tapang was facing multiple murder cases and carried a reported P2-million bounty.
Other fatalities whose remains were claimed include 58-year-old Rene Villarin Sr., 19-year-old Ruel Sabillo, 28-year-old Sonny Boy Caramihan, 32-year-old Pedro Bonghanoy, 32-year-old Arnel Javoc, 18-year-old Joros Caramihan, and a 17-year-old male from Escalante City.
PRO-NIR Director Police Brigadier General Arnold Thomas Ibay said authorities are ensuring that all recovered remains are handled with dignity and released to families following proper legal and forensic procedures.
Ibay said the Special Investigation Task Group Toboso is continuing its efforts to identify the remaining 11 fatalities through forensic examination, documentation and coordination with relatives and local government units.
“Our continuing efforts are now focused on the identification of the remaining fatalities through follow-up coordination with possible relatives and further medico-legal documentation,” Ibay said.
Disputed identities in earlier reports
The PRO-NIR clarified that the official list of fatalities did not include student leader Alyssa Alano and community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma after earlier reports from the University of the Philippines – Diliman Student Council and the Altermidya Network had identified them among those killed in the Toboso encounter.
Ledesma was a writer and editor for Paghimutad Negros and served as regional coordinator of Altermidya in Negros Island.
He was also a former editor-in-chief of Spectrum, the student publication of the University of Saint La Salle – Bacolod, where he graduated with a degree in psychology.
Altermidya said Ledesma was conducting community immersion reporting on renewable energy projects and agrarian issues in Negros, including developments affecting farmer communities and plantation expansion.
The Human Rights Advocates in Negros said Ledesma was not present at the initial clash site and claimed he was later caught in a separate military pursuit operation in a peasant community in Sitio Plariding.
PRO-NIR said it continues to coordinate with families and agencies to complete identification and release procedures for all remaining fatalities.
Meanwhile, Major General Michael Samson, commander of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, awarded a wounded personnel medal to a soldier injured in a separate encounter with remnants of the NNF.
Samson commended the troops’ service, citing their role in ongoing security operations in Negros.
Relief assistance is also ongoing for more than 500 residents displaced by the clashes in Toboso and parts of Escalante City./CJ, WDJ