The series of armed encounters between the Philippine Army and the New People’s Army in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19, that ended in the loss of 19 lives – all from the rebel side, has been a hot topic in discussions these days, mostly due to the profile of the people who died during a seiries of firefights on that fateful day in a remote area of the municipality.
Closest to home is RJ Nichole Ledesma, a graduate of the University of St. La Salle, former editor-in-chief of Spectrum, its school publication. He was a community journalist, and was the seventh nominee of the Kabataan party list in the 2022 elections.
Also killed were two students from the University of the Philippines, and 2 Americans.
The military maintains that all those who were killed in Toboso were legitimate combatants, while the Communist Party of the Philippines has released a statement identifying the casualties, claiming that only 10 of the fatalities were armed NPA combatants, while the remaining 9 were unarmed civilians and non-combatants.
Knowing the CPP-NPA and our government, the truth is certainly somewhere in between.
As it should, considering the significance of the death toll, the Commission on Human Rights has launched an investigation into the bloody incident. For now, that seems to be the only government entity looking into the deaths of the “Toboso 19”. The rest of the government seems to believe the account of the military – lock, stock, and barrel.
We all know that the NPA and CPP are killers, liars, and experts in propaganda, but that fact does not automatically exonerate the army from allegations that almost half of the 19 that were killed in the armed skirmishes were not combatants.
That is why full support should be given to the CHR, and any other government body that investigates the incident where hours-long gun battles between the military and rebels have taken the most number of lives in recent history. It would certainly solidify the credibility and reputation of the military if it is proven that their soldiers were right, and the 9 that were killed in the gun battles were indeed armed combatants. If not, then justice has to be served and steps taken to ensure that such “mistakes” are never repeated.
Of course, there will be those who will invoke good old whataboutism to demand the same scrutiny from the NPA. But aren’t they already considered a terrorist group, outlawed, and are being actively hunted down by the country’s entire security apparatus? They have already admitted numerous atrocities and murders of civilians, which means they have been tried and judged, and should rightfully be hunted, which means they are constantly on the run. Nobody is pretending that they are the ‘good’ guys. Right?
There are demands to investigate the murders and executions perpetrated by the NPA in Negros. What more investigation is needed when the killers have already admitted to the murders in press statements? Whatabouting the NPA when a military operation results in 19 deaths, where almost half are claimed to be civilians and non-combatants, seems to be a waste of government time and resources.
Everyone knows that the NPA has committed and admitted to being responsible for many terrible atrocities, and that they need to be stopped. The perpetrators must be hunted down and brought to justice, which is obviously what the military and police are trying to do. What the government and the AFP brass needs to ensure is that when they hunt down the band of rebels/bandits/murders that the NPA has devolved into, civilians and non combatants shouldn’t also be killed. Not in crossfires, not as collateral damage, and certainly not because their sense of idealism and values led them to be in close proximity with wanted killers.
The military is being investigated because people who apparently weren’t combatants were killed at the encounter site. If you come to think of it, a community journalist, 2 UP students, 2 Americans, among others, could’ve been radicalized and might’ve actually been armed and dangerous. But then, they also could’ve been trapped in the crossfire, or could’ve just been shot at simply because they were beside a wanted and dangerous gang of bandits and killers. “Why were they there,” is one of the questions that is being asked and needs answers, and so is “how did they die?”
With so many killed in an armed encounter with government forces, an investigation should always be automatic and necessary because nobody really knows what happened. While the NPA cannot be trusted with anything, especially the truth, that doesn’t mean that the Army is automatically faultless and telling the truth. The sooner the question of whether or not non-combatants were killed is answered, the better it is for the credibility of our armed forces, who unfortunately for them, have rules and laws to follow. That is what differentiates them from the NPA, and that is why they should welcome and face such investigations squarely, with the same courage and conviction as they had when facing armed combatants in battle.
If they did their job by the book, the truth should set them free.*
