• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 23 civilians in Negros Island, who were alleged to have worked as military informants, had been killed by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels from January to August 9 this year, the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) reported yesterday.
A member of the defunct Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), a breakaway faction of the NPA, a government militiaman, a former rebel and a policeman were added to the list of victims, a compilation report of the victims of rebel atrocities in Negros Island further showed.
In 2022, only 11 victims of NPA summary execution activities were reported.
During the press briefing of the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City yesterday, Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, said that almost all killings were claimed by the NPA as published in its social media accounts.
Among the victims were couple Rolly and Emilda Fausto and their two minor children, who were massacred by rebels last June 14 in Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, on suspicions of being military informants.
Edralin noted that the increase in the number of civilians being liquidated also came in the wake of increasing encounters between NPA remnants and Army soldiers, where many rebels, including their leaders, have died.
Their admission of being responsible for the killings of alleged military informants form part of the NPA propaganda to prove that they still exist despite the debacles they suffered in sustained military focused operations the Philippine Army, he said.
Aside from killing innocent civilians, Edralin said there is an ongoing purging among the ranks of the NPA, of suspected military informants.
“It shows how frustrated they are of their current situation,” he added.
Military records further showed that eight heavy equipment and cargo trucks were also burned by the communist rebels.
Last year, among the 11 liquidation activities of the NPA in Negros, the victims included barangay officials, government militiamen, and civilians and former rebels. | GB
