MANILA: ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio on Saturday (April 25) urged a congressional panel to investigate a military operation last week that left 19 people dead in Negros Occidental.
The request comes amid conflicting accounts from the armed forces and human rights groups over the clash.
In a statement, Tinio said the House Human Rights Committee should scrutinise the military’s account of its encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Occidental over claims that those killed were civilians, rather than armed combatants.
“We cannot accept a blanket ‘encounter’ narrative that automatically justifies the deaths of 19 people,” he said. “Congress must investigate what happened in Toboso.”
He said the congressional probe should determine “who gave the orders, what the rules of the engagement were, whether excessive force was used, and whether there were violations of international humanitarian law and basic human rights.”
On Thursday, the armed forces said the 303rd Infantry Brigade engaged communist rebels in northern Negros, sparking a “running firefight” that left 19 dead.
Among those killed were a University of the Philippines (UP) student, a journalist and peasant advocates.
Human rights group Karapatan described the Negros Island encounter as a “massacre,” accusing the military of using “excessive force” in that operation.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said at least five of those killed in the clash were civilians, and alleged the incident could amount to a “war crime,” according to a Philippine Collegian report on Thursday.
The UP Diliman Student Council identified one of those killed in the clash as Alyssa Alano, its education and research councilor.
Altermidya Network also named RJ Ledesma, a coordinator for its Negros Island journalists’ group, among the fatalities.
Peasant groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Tanggol Magsasaka also identified two others as advocates Maureen Keil Santuyo and Errol Wendel.
The NPA, the armed wing of the CPP, has been waging an insurgency against the government for more than five decades, in one of the world’s longest‑running rebellions that has killed more than 40,000 people. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
