Six alleged high profile New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in an encounter with the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Lubi, Brgy. Tabugon, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, at about 7:50 p.m. on Thursday, September 21, Brig. Gen. Joey Escanillas, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander, said Friday.
The Negros encounter took place two weeks after 74th IB soldiers also killed six alleged NPA rebels in a series of encounters in Bilar, Bohol.
MGen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said “this incident is not only a big blow to the communist terrorists’ group that brings them closer to becoming inconsequential, but most importantly, this is justice being served to the victims of their willful killings”.
Killed in Kabankalan were Alejo Delos Reyes, alias Peter and Bravo, leader of Squad 2 of the NPA’s Sangay Yunit Propaganda Platoon 3, Marjon Alvior alias Kenneth and Bobby Pedro alias Recoy – vice squad leaders of the platoon, Mario Fajardo Mullon alias Goring – Squad 1 medic, Melissa Dela Peña alias Diane – the wife alias Bravo, and Ruben Gaitan, the Army’s 3rd Division reported.
The slain rebels were allegedly responsible for killing Army personnel in Cauayan in April 2021 and Sipalay in November 2022.
The same group was also allegedly responsible for killing Silas Granada, 65, of Brgy Pingot, Ilog, in January 2023 who was shot in the head several times. They also allegedly killed Granada’s father over a land dispute.
The six were members of the South-Western Front of the NPA’s Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor (KR-NCBS), Escanillas said.
The 47th IB soldiers were responding to a tip from the local populace about the presence of armed rebels extorting and collecting food from the residents in the area when they were fired upon by the rebels prompting them to respond, which resulted in an about 10-minute firefight, he added.
Seized from the encounter site were four .45 caliber pistols, a .38 caliber revolver, a hand grenade, various magazines and ammunition, electronic gadgets, personal belongings and several subversive documents of high intelligence value, the Army report said.
Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda said according to the Tabugon barangay captain the six fatalities were not from his village.
The encounter occurred in an area far away from residences, and no residents were evacuated, he said.
Sison lauded the 47IB for their relentless effort to hunt down the remaining CPP-NPA rebels operating in Negros Island.
“We are again calling on the remaining communist terrorists to return to the folds of the law, avail themselves of the government’s program, and live peacefully with their loved ones. Rather than suffering the same fate as your comrades who wasted their lives in a useless and futile armed struggle, decide and choose the path to peace while there is still time,” Sison said.
“MASSCRE”
Meanwhile, the Armando Sumayang Jr. Command of the NPA Southwest Negros Guerrilla Front claimed the incident was not an encounter, it was a massacre of its medical personnel, a rebel couple on medical leave, and a tricycle driver.
Ka Andrea Guerrero, ASJC-NPA spokesperson, said the noncombatants were on board a hired tricycle when the 47th IB soldiers fired on them. “
Guerrero identified the six victims as Bobby Pedro, Mario Mullon and Janice Flores who were medical personnel of the NPA, Alejo delos Reyes and wife, Melissa dela Peña, who were on-leave as she was six months pregnant, and tricycle driver Robin Gaitan.
Ka Bayani Obrero, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros, urged human rights defenders and their organizations to launch independent investigations and fact-finding missions on the recent killings in Negros Occidental.
Negros Occidenal Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson reiterated his call for the rebels to lay down their arms and join the mainstream of society.
“There are no winners in war,” he said.*