Soldier hurt in Toboso clash with NPA remnants

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — A soldier was injured Monday in an armed encounter with suspected remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front in Barangay Tamlang, Toboso, Negros Occidental, the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion said.

1st Lt. Fevie Fajardo, the battalion’s civil-military operations officer, said the clash erupted at 2:10 p.m. while troops were monitoring the area in response to reported shooting incidents in the town allegedly linked to the rebel group.

Fajardo did not disclose other details of the encounter, saying pursuit operations were ongoing against the armed men who fled.

She said no residents had been reported displaced because the encounter site was far from residential areas.

The Northern Negros Front was a unit of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The latest clash happened a month after the 79th Infantry Battalion fought remnants of the group in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, on April 19, leaving 19 people dead.

The April 19 incident sparked debate over the identities of the fatalities, with the Communist Party of the Philippines saying only 10 were part of the armed struggle, while the military maintained that all 19 were members of the revolutionary movement.

The April 19 clash occurred while troops were pursuing the group of Roger Fabillar, also known as Arnel Tapang and alias Jhong, an NPA leader whom the Philippine Army linked to a series of killings targeting civilians, farmers, and barangay officials accused of being “military assets” in northern Negros, particularly in Calatrava, Escalante City, and Toboso, since 2023.

Meanwhile, the Toboso Municipal Police Station said only one shooting incident had been reported in the town recently, particularly in Barangay General Luna last month.

Police said the incident remains under investigation and they have yet to determine whether it was linked to insurgency.