2 minors among Negros 'clash' deaths, NTF-ELCAC says

Two minors were among those 19 killed in what the military called an encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said.

The government’s anti-insurgency task force claimed that the 16-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy were allegedly deployed by the communist rebel group, according to a statement it released on Monday evening.

NTF-ELCAC said that their identities were validated through investigation and claimant-relatives.

On April 20, the Philippine Army reported that on April 19, a total of 19 alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in a series of encounters with government troops in Barangay Salamanca.

However, NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command disputed the military’s account, saying that only a small number of those killed were armed fighters and that some of them were civilians.

The reported civilians killed in the military operation included local farmer Roel Sabillo and Bacolod-based journalist RJ Ledesma, the rebel group said.

Also, the UP Diliman University Student Council (USC) said that student leader Alyssa Alano was among the fatalities in the incident.

READ: Who was Alyssa Alano, the UP student leader killed in Negros clash?

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) also confirmed that its Associate of Arts student, Maureen Keil Santuyo, was among those killed in the operation.

Earlier, the NTF-ELCAC also reported that there were two United States citizens in the fatalities.

Philippine Army spokesperson Colonel Louie Dema-ala earlier said that soldiers from the 79th Infantry Battalion (79IB) acted professionally and in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.

"Ano ang ginagawa ng mga sinasabi nilang journalist, social workers, faculty members, spokesperson ng mga progresibong grupo sa loob ng encounter site na may mga bitbit na baril at nakikipagbarilan sa ating mga sundalo?” Dema-ala said.

(What were the people they're saying were a journalist, social workers, faculty members, spokesperson of a progressive group doing in the encounter site bearing firearms and shooting it out with government troops?) —VAL, GMA News