The Communist Party of the Philippines on Monday, April 27, identified all 19 casualties in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, claiming 10 were armed revolutionaries and nine were civilians.
The Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines have yet to release the full list of names of the 19 casualties whom they said were killed in a series of encounters between the 79th Infantry Battalion soldiers and the NPA in Barangay Salamanca on April . 19.
They have maintained that all 19 were armed NPA combatants.
Meanwhile, CPP said the 10 NPA fighters killed in the encounters were:
· Roger Fabillar (Ka Tapang), who served as NPA commander of the Northern Negros Front;
· Sonny Boy Caramihan, 28, from Barangay Bagonbon, San Carlos City;
· Rene Villarin Sr., 57, Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava, squad leader;
· Pedro Bonghanoy, medical officer, Barangay Libertad, Escalante City;
· Arnel Javoc, 32, from Barangay Lalong, Calatrava;
· Joros Ramos Caramihan, 18, from Don Salvador Benedicto;
· Maria Clarita Branzuel Blanco (Ka Sanim/Pat), Political Instructor;
· Genevieve Balora (Ka Raia), from Bacolod City, district Party cadre;
· Labskie Purisimia Enustacion, 33, of Sitio Tinibawan, Barangay Bug-ang, Toboso; and
· Jocel Gimang, 18, of Sitio Bautista, Barangay Malasibog, Escalante City
“We commiserate with the loved ones and comrades of the fallen Red fighters of the NPA,” the CPP statement said.
“The New People’s Army suffered a tactical defeat that fateful day, but remains clear-sighted and determined to advance along the revolutionary path towards strategic victory,” it added.
It said the civilians killed were:
· Roel Sabillo, 19, resident of Barangay Tabunac, Toboso;
· R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30, community journalist from Bacolod City;
· Alyssa Alano, councilor, UP Diliman Student Council;
· Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, member, National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA-Youth);
· Errol Wendel, 24, member, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura;
· Jemina Gumadlas, 15, resident of Sitio Plarending, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso;
· Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, from San Francisco, California (USA);
· Kai Sorem, 26, from Seattle, Washington (USA); and
· Dexter Patajo, 17, Sitio Buklog, Barangay Lalong, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
The New People’s Army stands unwavering in its determination to deliver revolutionary justice to all victims of the Toboso massacre, CPP statement said.
Meanwhile, a Commission on Human Rights Negros Island Region (CHR NIR) team has started its investigation into the encounter in Toboso.
The CHR NIR team was in Toboso Monday morning to visit the encounter sites in Barangay Salamanca and conduct interviews, Vincent Parra, CHR – Negros Occidental chief, said.
They were aiming to interview the parents of the two minor’s killed, he added.
Parra said they also have a pending request for relevant data from the PNP.*
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