Insurgency: Training Site For NPA Recruits

The NPA continues to be active in Negros Island. A recent clash in Himamaylan between the Army and the rebels brought condemnation from the local Mayor. However it appears both sides brought the ire of the local government.

 

https://negrosnowdaily.com/himamaylan-officials-condemn-clash-between-army-npa-rebels/

Local officials of Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental led by Mayor Raymund Tongson issued statements condemning the violence brought by the encounter between troops of the Philippine Army and remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Sitio Bulod, Barangay Carabalan on Oct. 17.

In statement Thursday night, Oct. 22, Tongson said the city government is “deeply concerned about the reported armed encounter”.

“I strongly condemn any act of violence that endangers civilians and disturbs the peace of our communities. My thoughts are with all those injured and their families, and I pray for their swift and complete recovery,” he added.

The encounter resulted in injuries to a civilian, a government militiaman and two soldiers.

Tongson said the city government continues to coordinate closely with barangay officials and the appropriate authorities to monitor the situation and extend assistance where needed.

“We ask our people to remain calm, follow verified advisories, and refrain from spreading unconfirmed information. The safety and security of every Himamaylanon, together with the peace of our communities, remain our highest priorities,” the mayor said.

In a separate statement, Carabalan officials said the clash caused fear and anxiety among residents and disrupted the peace and security of the community.

They also strongly denounced all forms of violence, harassment and other acts that could bring disorder and fear to residents.

Village chief Mildred Titular appealed to residents to remain calm and vigilant while cooperating with authorities to help maintain peace and security in the area.

The incident came amid renewed concerns over violence linked to the communist insurgency in southern Negros.

In nearby Binalbagan, acting mayor Mary Ann Mirasol also called for peace and justice,  following a series of killings, among these the Oct.  5 shooting of a 55-year-old force multiplier in Sitio Capaklan, Barangay Santol.

Police initially identified the victim as alias “Jolito” while the NPA’s South Central Negros Command later claimed responsibility and identified him as Dioleto Arnado, alleging that he was gathering intelligence for government security forces.

In a statement on Oct.  19, Mirasol expressed sympathy for the victims’ families and called for thorough and impartial investigation, stressing that neither political ideology nor personal grievances could justify the unlawful taking of human life.

“Binalbagan deserves peace, not violence; justice, not fear; progress, not poverty,” she added.

Another incident in Binalbagan saw the acting Mayor sympathize with the victim, an NPA rebel. She went on to seemingly condemn the AFP for their actions in the community. Is she really supporting the NPA? Where is her condemnation from the military and the NTF-ELCAC who leaps at every chance it can get to red-tag?

Apparently the NTF-ELCAC has been pestering a cancer-striken woman to admit she is a member of the NPA and to sign a document acknowledging she has surrendered. All because she assisted plantation workers with knowing their rights as workers. 

 

https://davaotoday.com/headline/cancer-survivor-recounts-harassment-as-rights-groups-launch-resistance-campaign/

Emma Ricaforte was recovering from cancer treatment when alleged representatives of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the 10th Infantry Division (10ID) repeatedly pressed her to sign a document clearing her name of links to the New People’s Army (NPA). 

Ricaforte, chairperson of the board of trustees of the Nonoy Librado Development Foundation, Inc. (NLDFI), said the visits and pressure strained her emotionally and psychologically while she recovered from surgery and chemotherapy. She served as NLDFI executive director for 13 years, working with plantation workers on labor standards, workers’ rights and union organizing. 

“They would come to my house and ask me to sign a document to clear my name. They came bringing fruits and offered me P5000,” Ricaforte told Davao Today in Cebuano.

The visits ran from February to July 2026, following an earlier round in 2024.

When she was too weak to receive the visitors, her husband spoke with them.

“You really added to my psychological effects, stress,” she said. “You are not God. You don’t have the right to harass me.”

Her work took her to banana plantations in Compostela Valley, pineapple plantations in Polomolok and communities in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental.

“We provide vocational training, labor standards, know-your-rights talks, and women orientations to the laborers,” she said.

She rejected the allegation that helping workers organize made her an NPA supporter.

“Is it wrong to go to Compostela Valley to help the workers in banana plantations? Is it wrong to go to the pineapple fields in Polomolok?” she asked. “Is it wrong to go to Bukidnon or Misamis Oriental, to help laborers organize unions so they understand their protection and rights in their work?”

She also reported condolence wreaths hung at her gate. Her home security camera captured the incident, but the military denied involvement. She still suspects it was connected to the harassment she has experienced. 

Ricaforte reported the visits to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), but said she received no updates on the promised investigation. 

She is now staying in Davao City for refuge.

Her account was among testimonies shared by human rights defenders and progressive groups in Southern Mindanao at the Oct. 21 launch of Resisting Attacks on Human Rights Defenders in Southern Mindanao (RESIST! SMR). The campaign seeks to document violations and challenge red-tagging, surveillance, threats and harassment against activists and rights defenders.

Pressured to surrender

Kat Dalon of Sabokahan Unity of Lumad Women said military intelligence personnel repeatedly visited her and those of fellow activists, asking about their whereabouts and associates.

Relatives initially refused to welcome the visitors, but as visits grew more frequent, personnel brought food and money and attended family celebrations. Some relatives eventually pressured activists to surrender or disclose information, fearing for their own safety.

“Because of the pressure, we were forced to cut communication with our families,” Dalon said in Cebuano. “We can’t talk to them anymore because they would text and call us everyday to surrender because they’re also tired. At some point, even our parents would trust the military and give information about us.”

Dalon said activists asked the CHR to hold a discussion with the military, but the military declined.

Marklen Lariosa of Desaparecidos Philippines said his family faced similar pressure before his father, labor organizer William Lariosa, was allegedly forcibly disappeared in Bukidnon.

Lariosa said individuals identifying themselves as state agents and NTF-ELCAC representatives visited his family’s home in Davao de Oro in 2022, alleging his father had links to rebels and urging him to surrender. The family maintained that William was a labor organizer with the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), not a rebel.

“It came to a point when they threatened us that if tatay (father) doesn’t surrender, the entire family would be implicated,” Marklen said.

William was reportedly taken by suspected military agents on April 10, 2024, in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon. The CHR said a month later it was alarmed by his disappearance and had begun coordinating with the family and relevant agencies.

The family’s legal efforts have faced setbacks. Lower courts rejected earlier petitions seeking to compel authorities to account for William’s whereabouts. 

In October 2025, the family elevated the case to the Supreme Court, which in a resolution dated July 8, 2026, directed military respondents, including the 48th Infantry Battalion and the 10ID, to submit comments on the petition.

“Until now, it has been more than two years that we’re still looking for him,” Marklen said.

‘Activism is not a crime’

Rauf Sissay of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region (BAYAN-SMR) said the testimonies reflect a broader pattern of targeting people who organize communities, defend workers’ rights and oppose the exploitation of natural resources.

He said red-tagging is used to silence people who speak out against abuses or resist projects that threaten their communities.

“If you demand or talk about the realities of people on the ground, you’re immediately branded as a member of the NPA,” Sissay said in Cebuano.

Sissay said activists also face surveillance, threats and fabricated criminal complaints.

“Trumped-up cases are being filed against known progressive leaders and organizations that stand up for rights,” he said. “Charged with illegal possession of firearms or explosives, or even charged with murder despite not having killed anyone.”

He said the experiences create a chilling effect that forces people to abandon their advocacy out of fear, and questioned the continued military presence in rural and Indigenous communities despite declarations that the Davao region was insurgency-free as early as 2022.

“There is nothing wrong with what we are doing. Activism is not a crime. Defending our human rights is not terrorism,” he said.

Her testimony is one of several to commemorate the launch of Resisting Attacks on Human Rights Defenders in Southern Mindanao (RESIST! SMR). The goal of this groups is to declare activism is not a crime. Yet the NTF-ELCAC continues to red-tag and harass human rights defenders. Of course they deny this even when their actions are well documented. The formation of this group will likely only serve to exacerbate the problem as the NTF-ELCAC will claim NPA rebels are using the group as a shield.

The NTF-ELCAC has renewed its call for the United Nations to investigate the killing of 99 people by the NPA over the span of a few years. 

https://balita.com/ntf-elcac-no-armed-group-has-the-right-to-execute-anyone/

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Sunday night said no armed group has the right to execute anyone, as it reiterated its call for the United Nations (UN) to investigate the 99 killings attributed to the communist insurgents.

“No political front can confer immunity. No ‘kangaroo court’ can place itself above the law. No armed organization has the right to execute defenseless Filipinos,” it said in a statement.

The NTF-ELCAC issued this comment after the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said that the task force’s calls for a UN probe are just an effort to “salvage its discredited anti-insurgency campaign” and redirect scrutiny away from state-sponsored abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

“The NDFP cannot answer 99 reported killings with 99 excuses. It cannot erase the NPA’s (New People’s Army’s) own admissions by changing the subject. And it cannot invoke human rights as a shield against scrutiny while demanding that its accusations against others be accepted without question,” the task force said.

The task force said the number of reported killings by the NPAs rose to 99 with the addition of Junard Mansalon, 42, of Sitio Namutang, Barangay Makilignit, Isabela, Negros Occidental, who was reportedly killed by the Leonardo Panaligan Command-New People’s Army on Oct. 16, 2026.

“The NDFP’s dismissal of the killings as gossip is no substitute for evidence. NTF-ELCAC has now documented 99 alleged killings and summary executions between 2021 and October 2026, including the latest reported killing of Mansalon in Negros Occidental,” it said, urging the NDFP to identify the supposedly fabricated incidents, present contrary evidence, and explain the NPA’s acknowledged executions.

Again, it's not the UN's job to investigate these killings. It is simply posturing from the NTF-ELCAC because the UN Human Rights Commission has condemned the NTF-ELCAC at times for red-tagging and other offenses. What if they investigated and came to a conclusion the NTF-ELCAC didn't like? What then?

The AFP and NTF-ELCAC keep saying the insurgency is dying out yet apparently Negros Island is training ground for new rebels. 

 

https://negrosnowdaily.com/former-rebel-claims-negros-is-training-site-for-npa-recruits/

Negros Island has allegedly become a training ground for new recruits of the New People’s Army (NPA), including young people from Metro Manila and foreign nationals, as authorities intensify investigations into civilian killings and other alleged atrocities linked to the communist insurgency.

Noel Legaspi, president of Buklod Kapayapaan Federation Inc. (BKFI) and a former Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) official, made the claim during this week’s FAQCheck press conference, saying remnants of the CPP-NPA were attempting to replenish their depleted ranks by bringing recruits from other regions to Negros despite declining public support.

“Negros Island is now a training ground for the future cadre,” Legaspi said, citing the April 19 encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental, involving three individuals from Metro Manila and two Americans, as an example of recruitment extending beyond the island.

Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson of the Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict-6, said recruitment activities were taking place alongside expanding investigations into alleged NPA killings, particularly the execution of civilians accused of being government informants, commonly referred to as spy-tagging cases.

Gonzales said affidavits executed by former rebels since 2019 were being reviewed by the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, police and intelligence authorities to identify alleged perpetrators, locate witnesses and reopen previously unresolved cases.

Authorities are also investigating possible terrorism-financing violations involving individuals and groups allegedly providing support to the CPP-NPA and their political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), he said.

“We also revisit the groups and individuals who support the CPP-NPA-NDF and build cases against them for terrorism financing,” Gonzales said.

He added that more than 500 individuals in Negros could potentially provide information against NPA operatives, including former rebels and people allegedly affected by intimidation.

The continuing killings, he said, have fueled resentment among victims’ families and affected communities.

Gonzales also cited the April 19 Toboso encounter, saying an NPA commander killed during the incident allegedly had outstanding warrants for multiple murders involving civilians accused of being government informants.

He said this contradicted claims portraying everyone involved in the encounter as researchers or political activists.

Gonzales said the Commission on Human Rights had also begun investigating some civilian killings while efforts were underway to bring reports of alleged atrocities to international human rights bodies.

Moreover, Legaspi criticized the communist movement’s continued adherence to its protracted people’s war strategy despite changing social and political conditions and repeated setbacks.

He said that the CPP-NPA failure to regain public support had driven some NPA units toward intimidation rather than political organizing.

Legaspi also questioned the movement’s efforts to portray itself internationally as a belligerent force exercising revolutionary justice, alleging that such messaging was intended to maintain foreign support and generate funding.

Legaspi said the BKFI, which has 17 regional federations nationwide, was helping former rebels reintegrate into society through education, livelihood assistance and organizational support.

He also urged the public to participate in the Protect Negros Island Network scheduled for launching in December.

It seems this information is based solely on an encounter which happened several months ago. It's reliability is dubious. It's more likely PR for Buklod Kapayapaan Federation Inc.

 Meanwhile, in Mindanao 11 Muslim insurgents have surrendered.

 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2331297/11-former-extremists-yield-to-army-turn-in-rifles-in-maguindanao-sur

Eleven former members of extremist groups have surrendered to the military and were presented to the commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade during a ceremony at the headquarters of the 38th Infantry Battalion (38IB) in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Lt. Col. Mark Anthony P. Tornalejo, 38IB commanding officer, presented the former violent extremists to Brig. Gen. Gremel B. Brual, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

It was held at the 38IB battalion headquarters in Sitio Landing Fish, Barangay Buayan, Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur.

Five of the former extremists came from the towns of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, four from Rajah Buayan, and two from Datu Salibo.

Of the 11, nine were former members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), while the remaining two were affiliated with the Dawlah Islamia (DI).

They were introduced to a path of peace through the government’s “Balik-Loob Program” which aims to help former rebels and violent extremists reintegrate into mainstream society.

Representatives from the Maguindanao del Sur provincial government, the police and other partner agencies attended the ceremony and expressed their support for the reintegration initiative.

Tornalejo said the surrender was a product of coordination and cooperation between the AFP, PNP, local government units and partner agencies in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“I commend the former extremists for choosing to improve their lives and build a better future with their families.  Your decision to abandon violent extremism has transformed you into warriors of peace in Maguindanao del Sur,” Brual said during the surrender rites.

“I also commend the local government units, local officials and the 38IB for your collective support and initiatives to strengthen programs aimed at preventing the proliferation of loose firearms and providing former members of armed groups with opportunities to return to society and become productive citizens,” Brual added.

Over 150 assorted rifles and explosives have been collected by the military or surrendered in Maguindanao del Sur since January this year. 

Of course these violent criminals will be given a path to reintegration which includes free money, free job training, and free housing.