AFP: Probe killings of 60 Negros civilians

May 5, 2026 | 12:00am

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A group of former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels has asked the Commission on Human Rights and other government bodies to investigate the killing of at least 60 people on Negros Island since last year, claiming the killing has evolved into an unprecedented pattern.

The Buklod Kapayapaan Federation Inc. raised the alarm over the weekend, saying farmers, barangay officials, senior citizens and former rebels were killed by the NPA.

Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, said the AFP has documented the killings of at least 36 people in northern Negros and another 28 from the southern end of the island.

“We are not inventing this,” Brawner said, noting that the NPA had even owned up to the series of summary executions in Negros.

He added that Negros residents have grown weary of the NPA’s extortion activities and violence, prompting them to provide information to authorities, which led to successful military operations, including the recent clash in Toboso town that led to the death of 19 alleged rebels.

“The civilians themselves are speaking up because they are already fed up with these atrocities. So we were able to determine their (rebels) location, where the legitimate encounters took place,” Brawner said during his visit to the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Sagay City, Negros Occidental over the weekend.

Brawner said President Marcos was “very proud” of the accomplishment of the 79th Infrantry Battalion, including the neutralization of NPA leader Roger Fabillar.

More than 30 soldiers and military intelligence operatives were awarded the Gold Cross and Silver Cross medals for their operation against Fabillar’s group.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has reiterated its call to resume formal peace talks with the government, saying key issues remain unresolved despite ongoing discussions.

The NDFP negotiating panel said that after more than two years since the signing of the Oslo Joint Statement in November 2023, both sides had made progress in informal exploratory talks but have yet to finalize a framework agreement.

The group said most of the contentious matters had been addressed, except for the issue involving the disposition of revolutionary armed forces, which it said the government wanted included in the framework without resolving underlying social and economic concerns.
The NDFP maintained that peace negotiations should follow previously agreed frameworks, including The Hague Joint Declaration and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

It stressed that addressing root causes such as poverty, landlessness, lack of industrialization and corruption is essential to achieving lasting peace.

The group also backed calls for confidence-building measures, including the release of detained consultants and the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

The NDFP said it remains committed to pursuing a negotiated settlement aimed at resolving the armed conflict. — Mark Ernest Villeza