• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine Army has confirmed that 19 suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels died in a series of encounters with 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) soldiers in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19.
Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said Monday, April 20 that elusive and notorious rebel leader Roger Fabillar, with aliases of Arnel Tapang, Jhong, Nono and Domeng, was among those killed.
Fabillar, whose group was linked to the summary executions of at least 36 civilians accused as military informants in northern Negros since 2025, has a bounty of P1 million for his arrest and neutralization.
Soldiers recovered 19 high-powered firearms as well as explosives from the encounter sites in Sitio Plaringding, Barangay Salamanca.
The series of encounters, between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m., also led to the injury of a soldier, who is now being treated at a medical facility in Bacolod City.
Dumosmog said the gunbattles started after 79IB soldiers discovered a temporary encampment within a vicinity of a fishpond, which was occupied by remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front.
As the rebels tried to flee, they were intercepted by the blocking forces of the 79IB, which led to a series of encounters.
On Monday, the Philippine National Police scene of the crime operation team retrieved the 19 cadavers for identification purposes.
Dumosmog said the death of Fabillar is justice for all the civilians they had killed and tagged as military spies to justify their killings.
Mayor Richard Jaojoco reported that 168 families, composed of 653 persons, evacuated in barangays of Salamanca and San Jose in Toboso for their safety.
The internal displaced persons are temporarily staying at the Salamanca, Toril, and Labi-Labi Elementary Schools.
In the history of the anti-insurgency campaign in Negros, the number of rebel fatalities in the Toboso encounters was reported as the biggest casualties incurred by the NPA since the 1990s. | GB
