• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two former child warriors of the New People’s Army (NPA) were among the three rebel fatalities in a series of encounters in Escalante City, Negros Occidental on Feb. 21 and 22.
They were identified by the Philippine Army as aliases Jandy and Michael, who died along with alias Jose, all remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front.
Lt. Col. J-Jay Javines, assistant chief of staff for civil-military operations of 3rd Infantry Division, said that Jandy and Michael were both minors when they were recruited by the NPA.
Javines, former commander of 79th Infantry Battalion (IB), recalled that Jandy, who was captured during an encounter in 2018 in San Carlos City, was released by the authorities since she was still a minor.
In 2021, Jandy, who married her party husband, alias Peta, abandoned her two-month-old baby in a hut in Sitio Ambulong, Barangay San Fernando, Talisay City to evade arrest, following an encounter with 79IB soldiers.
Her baby was rescued and turned over to Talisay City Social Welfare Office.
When Michael was only 16, he and his three siblings, who were abandoned by their parents for the armed struggle, were visited by 79IB soldiers and government social workers in Barangay Hilub-ang, Calatrava in 2022.
However, they declined to be brought to their relatives in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
Several months later, Michael and his three siblings were relocated by their parents, Javines said.
Then on Feb. 21, Michael died during an encounter with government troops in Escalante City. | GB
