• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine Army confirmed that 19 suspected New People’s Army rebels have been killed in a series of encounters with the 79th Infantry Battalion soldiers on April 19 in Sitio Plaringding, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental.
Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade, disclosed on Monday that elusive and notorious rebel leader Roger Fabillar, who has the aliases of Arnel Tapang, Jhong, Nono, and Domeng, was among the 19 rebels who were killed.
Fabillar, whose group was linked to summary executions of at least 36 civilians in northern Negros that they have accused as military informants, since 2025, has a bounty of P2 million for his arrest and neutralization, according to Dumosmog.
Army soldiers recovered 19 high-powered firearms and explosives from the encounter sites.
The series of armed encounters in Toboso led to injuries sustained by an Army soldier, who is currently being treated at a medical facility in Bacolod City.
Dumosmog said the series of gunbattles started after 79th Infantry Battalion soldiers discovered within a vicinity of a fishpond a temporary encampment occupied by the remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front, who have frequently managed to escape previous encounters with 79IB soldiers.
As rebels were trying to scamper in various directions, following the initial gunbattle which started at about 4 a.m. Sunday, they were intercepted by blocking forces of the 79IB, which led to a series of encounters, according to Dumosmog.
Personnel of the PNP Scene Of the Crime Operatives yesterday retrieved the 19 cadavers of suspected rebels, for identification purposes.
Dumosmog said the death of Fabillar is justice for all the civilians they have killed, tagging them as military spies to justify their killings.
Mayor Richard Jaojoco reported that 168 families, composed of 653 persons, were evacuated for their safety, from their respective homes in barangays of Salamanca and San Jose in Toboso.
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now temporarily staying at the Salamanca, Toril and Labi-Labi Elementary Schools in two barangays of San Jose and Salamanca in Toboso, Jaojoco said. Escalante City Mayor Melecio Yap also reported that 200 residents living near the boundary of Escalante City and Toboso have fled their homes.
Maj. Gen. Michael Samson, 3rd Infantry Division commander, who supervises Army units stationed in Western and Central Visayas, as well as Negros Island Region, said the 15IB has been tracking down the estimated 20 man-group of Fabillar for several months.
Samson lauded the 15IB for the successful military operations against the rebel remnants linked to spate of killings of civilians in northern Negros.
The number of rebel fatalities in recent Toboso encounters was reported as the most casualties incurred by the New People’s Army in the history of anti-insurgency campaign in Negros, since the 1990s. All the 19 cadavers of rebels that were killed have been recovered by authorities.
Another armed encounter also took place between 15th Infantry Battalion soldiers and three remnants of the dismantled South West Front of Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros Sitio Lomboy, Barangay Caliling on Saturday.
Capt. Jessie Jun Ebalan, public affairs chief of 3rd Infantry Division, said the rebel remnants fled after an almost 30 minute running gunbattle.
They left behind three back packs containing a caliber .45 pistol with a magazine with six ammunition, two rifle grenades, several blasting caps for improvised explosive device, 69 ammunition for 12-gauge shotgun and M16 assault rifle, two magazines of AK 47 rifle, and two CPP-NPA flags, among others.*
