• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Armed Forces of the Philippines reported on May 2 that more than 60 civilians have been killed by New People’s Army rebels in Negros Island, from 2025 up to present.
More than 36 of civilians that were killed died in northern Negros, and at least 28 were in southern Negros, according to AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.
We are not inventing this, Brawner said, noting that the series of summary executions of innocent civilians were even claimed by the New People’s Army.
The people, he added, have grown weary of extortion and violence, prompting them to provide information to authorities that led to operations like the encounter inToboso.
So, we were able to determine their (NPA) location, where legitimate encounters took place, Brawner said.
“Civilians themselves are speaking up because they are already fed up with these atrocities,” he said.
The AFP chief also welcomed the support of the Toboso municipal government, who declared the NPA as ‘persona non grata,’ for their support to the Philippine Army, following the encounters at its remote barangay of Salamanca.
As full blown investigations are set by the House of Representatives, an investigation is also being pushed on the killings of innocent civilians in Negros Island, who were often labeled as ‘military spies” by the New People’s Army, which the rebel group itself has admitted responsibility for.*
