The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Monday welcomed Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson’s confirmation that the April 19 encounter between military units and New People’s Army (NPA) in Toboso town was legitimate.
In a statement to reporters, the task force said Lacson’s confirmation showed the “clearest and most decisive rejection” of the people of Negros Occidental of the communist insurgency.
It said the governor’s declaration carried exceptional weight because it came from the province’s highest elected official, who understands the realities on the ground and the sentiments of Negrenses.
“When the governor himself states that the operation was legitimate, that it was civilian information that led authorities to the armed group, and that there is no reason to question the conduct of government troops, it completely demolishes the falsehoods being spread to malign our security forces and romanticize armed rebellion,” the NTF-ELCAC said.
It said Lacson’s remarks were the “strongest, historic repudiation” of the propaganda and manufactured narratives being spread by the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
The task force said the Toboso encounter proved that communities in Negros Occidental were no longer willing to tolerate the presence of armed insurgents in their areas.
“The people themselves led authorities to the armed group because the people themselves have long rejected the presence of communist terrorists in Negros,” the task force said.
“For decades, the CPP-NPA-NDF robbed the province of peace, progress, investment, stability, and opportunity. Communities endured years of fear, extortion, recruitment activities, armed encounters, and killings carried out in the name of a failed revolution,” it added.
The NTF-ELCAC said the repeated declarations tagging the CPP-NPA-NDF as persona non grata (unwelcome) by local governments across Negros Occidental showed the growing rejection of insurgency in the province, including Bacolod City, Murcia, Hinigaran, Cauayan, Escalante, Calatrava, and Toboso.
The NTF-ELCAC also highlighted “spy-tagging” killings in Negros, saying at least 48 civilians had reportedly been killed in the area since last year after being accused by the NPA of acting as military informants.
The victims, the task force said, were often ordinary farmers, laborers, and residents who were branded as “assets” simply for refusing to support the armed struggle or for cooperating with lawful authorities.
“These killings reveal the true face of the movement behind all the romanticized propaganda — a movement that terrorizes the very people it claims to represent,” the NTF-ELCAC said, adding that Negrenses want lasting peace, economic growth, tourism, investments, and stable communities instead of another generation being drawn into violence.*PNA
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