A University of the Philippines Diliman student council leader and a Paghimutad – Negros Island Alternative Media writer and editor have been identified as among the 19 killed in Toboso, Negros Occidental, on Sunday.
Killed was RJ Nichole Ledesma, Paghimutad writer and editor who was a graduate of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City, Altermidya Network confirmed Wednesday afternoon, April 22.
The UP Diliman University Student Council (USC) also confirmed the death of Councilor Alyssa Alano “while on a community visit in Toboso, following alleged indiscriminate strafing” from the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday.
The USC said it is calling for justice for Alano “who was there to learn about the conditions of the community as it faced tight militarization from the AFP”.
As chair of the UP Diliman chapter of the League of Filipino Students, Alano has long been an advocate of marginalized sectors, it said.
The Army said 19 persons were killed in encounters between the 79th Infantry Battalion and remnants of the New People’s Army on Sunday but has yet to release a full list of the names of the casualties.
Altermidya Network, in a statement Wednesday, said it mourns the killing of Ledesma, 30, a writer and editor of Paghimutad‑Negros and regional coordinator of Altermidya in Negros Island.
He was a resident of Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City.
Ledesma was killed in a military operation in Barangay Salamanca, but he was in the area doing community work and immersion reporting on the effects of renewable energy projects – including solar farm expansion and windmill projects – on vulnerable farmer communities, it said.
Human Rights Advocates Negros (HRAN) said RJ was not in the initial clash site in Sitio Sinugmawan. According to the group, he was instead attacked in a separate peasant community in Sitio Plariding during an ensuing military pursuit operation. Ledesma also served as editor‑in‑chief of Spectrum, the student publication of the University of St. La Salle–Bacolod, where he graduated with a degree in Psychology. Since 2020, he led Paghimutad‑Negros, an alternative media outfit focused on human rights reporting and grassroots storytelling, it said.
Ledesma’s recent work documented the struggles of communities facing displacement due to large‑scale renewable energy projects, including solar farm expansion, windmill installations, and hydropower ventures, Altermidya Network said.
He also reported on reclamation projects in Bacolod, the expansion of a palm oil plantation in Candoni, and the conditions of sakadas and sugar farmworkers, it added.
Paghimutad‑Negros, the community media outfit that RJ led, had long been subjected to red‑tagging and vilification, the statement said.
“We give the highest honor to our colleague RJ, who until his last breath served marginalized communities by immersing and reporting on their stories. Together with his family and colleagues, we demand justice for RJ Ledesma,” Altermidya Network said.
He was the 7th nominee of the Kabataan Partylist during the 2022 elections and a former chairperson of the League of Filipino Students in Bacolod.
Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan on Wednesday strongly condemned what it called the focused military operations in Negros, resulting in the recent forced evacuation of more than 653 residents from 168 households in Toboso, and possible massacre and other grave violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) of at least 19 individuals.
A relative of one of the victims, Roel Sobillo, refuted this claim, asserting that the latter was a farmer who also worked in his uncle’s business, Karapatan claimed.
“Whether they are civilians or combatants, the sheer number of those killed triggers significant questions on the conduct of the operations including use of proportionate force, the steps taken to minimize casualties, and compliance with IHL and human rights. The possibility that the military committed a massacre, including in the context of an armed confrontation, should be investigated,” Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, said
KARAPATAN called for an urgent, independent, and impartial investigation into the incident, including the reported killings and the forced displacement of residents.
Army officials could not be reached for comment as of this writing.*
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