The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division yesterday called on government educational institutions to be more vigilant against the recruitment of New People’s Army and its allied group of new members in state universities and colleges in key cities.
This was after one of the four NPA members, who died in a recent encounter with government forces in Brgy. Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, was identified by the 3rd Infantry Division as Nikka Ledesma Dela Cruz, a journalism graduate of the University of San Jose Recoletos in Cebu City.
After graduation, Dela Cruz briefly worked in a regional news program of a television network in Cebu, before getting actively involved in anti-government rallies and demonstrations with militant urban housing group Kadamay, a statement from the 3ID said.
“The wasted life of Nikka, other students, and youth who were brainwashed, deceived, and killed in several encounters is enough and must be stopped at once,” the statement said.
“The recruiter and the organizations that brainwashed Nikka must take full responsibility for her death and be punished legally under existing laws to give justice to Nikka’s death,” it added.
According to her mother, Nikka was a brilliant daughter, dreaming of being a journalist someday, the 3ID said.
Seeing her potential as a cadre, the militant Anakbayan recruited her to join their group, while leaders of Kadamay-Cebu took advantage of her vulnerabilities and facilitated her integration into the terrorist group in Negros as a “cadre”, the 3ID statement further said.
In February this year, Nikka left their home in Cebu for Manila, according to her mother. Since then, there was no communication from her to her parents.
It was found out, according to the 3ID, that Nikka joined the Central Negros Front 2 in March this year.
Authorities were able to get hold of a video of her performing a cultural dance with other NPA members, with CPP-NPA-NDF flags at their back and firearms beside them, which indicated that she already joined the CPP-NPA in Central Negros.
Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said that Nikka served as a cadre of CN2, whose 19 members surrendered to the 94IB several days before the encounter in Binalbagan.
In 2021, Kerima Lorena Tariman, a graduate of the University of the Philippines, also died in an encounter with the 79th Infantry Battalion soldiers in Silay City, Negros Occidental, while Myles Albasin, a UP-Cebu graduate, was captured with five of her comrades, following an encounter in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, military records show./GB
