CPP releases names of casualties in ‘Toboso 19,’ including 9 civilians
BACOLOD CITY—The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Monday, April 27, identified 19 of the casualties in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, claiming that 10 were armed revolutionaries and nine were civilians.
The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have yet to release the names of the 19 casualties, whom they said were killed in a series of encounters between soldiers of the 79th Infantry Battalion and the New People’s Army in Barangay Salamanca on April 19.
READ: Independent probe sought into deadly Negros encounter
Government forces have maintained that all 19 were armed NPA combatants.
According to CPP, the 10 NPA fighters killed in the encounters were:
Roger Fabillar (Ka Tapang), who served as NPA commander of the Northern Negros Front;Sonny Boy Caramihan, 28, from Barangay Bagonbon, San Carlos City;Rene Villarin Sr., 57, Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava, squad leader;Pedro Bonghanoy, medical officer, Barangay Libertad, Escalante City;Arnel Javoc, 32, from Barangay Lalong, Calatrava;Joros Caramihan y Ramos, 18, from Don Salvador Benedicto;Maria Clarita Branzuel Blanco (Ka Sanim/Pat), political instructor;Genevieve Balora (Ka Raia), from Bacolod City, district Party cadre;Labskie Purisimia Enustacion, 33, of Sitio Tinibawan, Barangay Bug-ang, Toboso;Jocel Gimang, 18, of Sitio Bautista, Barangay Malasibog, Escalante City.
“We commiserate with the loved ones and comrades of the fallen Red fighters of the NPA,” the CPP statement said.
“The New People’s Army suffered a tactical defeat that fateful day but remains clear-sighted and determined to advance along the revolutionary path toward strategic victory,” it added.
It said the civilians killed were:
Roel Sabillo, 19, resident of Barangay Tabunac, Toboso;R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30, community journalist from Bacolod City;Alyssa Alano, councilor, UP Diliman Student Council;Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, member, National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA-Youth);Errol Wendel, 24, member, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura;Jemina Gumadlas, 15, resident of Sitio Plarending, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso;Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, from San Francisco, California, USA;Kai Sorem, 26, from Seattle, Washington, USA;Dexter Patajo, 17, Sitio Buklog, Barangay Lalong, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
The CPP said NPA “stands unwavering in its determination to deliver revolutionary justice to all victims of the Toboso massacre.” /jpv
