• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The death of 19 suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Toboso, Negros Occidental have drawn mixed reactions from leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, provincial government, and anti-insurgency body.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, and Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., executive director of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) mourned the lives lost in the encounters between rebel remnants and government forces in Barangay Salamanca on April 19.
In a pastoral statement, Alminaza lamented the incident, “where lives were taken, and many families have been plunged into grief”.
“We cannot accept this as normal. We cannot allow ourselves to grow indifferent to the taking of human life,” the bishop said. “This painful incident reveals something deeper about our shared reality…. Violence does not arise in a vacuum. It takes root where wounds have long been left unattended”.
He appealed to “those involved in the armed struggle to move away from violence, in the pursuit of justice, and move toward paths of dialogue that uphold life and human dignity”.
The bishop also called on the security forces to “seek peace, not only through strength, but justice, compassion and unwavering respect for human rights, for local leaders and institutions to act with urgency in addressing structural conditions that fuel armed conflict, and for communities to continue to be an instrument of peace in homes, barangays and parishes”.
For his part, Lacson expressed deep sadness over the heavy human cost of the encounter.
“It is painful to see Filipinos fighting fellow Filipinos, with at least 19 individuals reported killed in the clash,” he said.
The governor reiterated his call for the rebel remnants to lay down their arms and join the government.
“For those who have already done so, the provincial and the national government have done their share to give them a fresh start. We are ready to help them through reintegration programs that provide livelihood, housing, and other benefits to former rebels who choose to surrender,” Lacson said.
Torres said the death of 19 suspected rebels “is not a moment for celebration. It is a moment of reflection and reckoning.”
“Because behind the encounter are Filipino lives lost – lives that could have taken a different path, lives that were drawn into a struggle that offers nothing but destruction,” he added.
The NTF-ELCAC official said such is “the tragic outcome of terror-grooming – a deliberate and systematic process of recruitment and indoctrination that preys on the youth and the vulnerable”.
He also said the reality of spy-tagging killings continues to haunt communities in Negros, citing reports of security forces at least 45 civilians killed by the NPA after being labeled as “informants” or “traitors,” averaging three to four killings per month since 2025.
“While our forces have successfully neutralized an armed threat, we must confront the painful truth that those who perished were Filipinos – misled, manipulated, and ultimately sacrificed by a collapsing terrorist movement that continues to feed on lies and deception,” Torres said. | GB
