Widow of ex-rebel, peasant leader shot dead in Negros

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By Glazyl M. Jopson and Juliane Judilla

BACOLOD CITY — A 55-year-old farmer and widow of a slain alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebel was gunned down inside her home in Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, late on Dec. 23, 2025, in what authorities are probing as a possible insurgency-related killing.

Police identified the victim as Warlita Jimenez, who was shot multiple times by two unidentified men while resting in her bedroom in Sitio Makilo.

Police Lt. Col. Roberto Indiape Jr., Kabankalan City police chief, said Jimenez was the widow of Joseph Jimenez, who was killed in 2022 during an alleged encounter between the NPA and the 15th Infantry Battalion in the same village.

Rights groups, however, claimed that Joseph was a civilian farmer and peace advocate executed alongside poet and peace consultant Ericson Acosta.

Indiape also confirmed that the victim was the sister-in-law of Alberto, another resident who was reportedly executed by suspected NPA members on Dec. 14 for allegedly acting as a military informant.

The 16-year-old granddaughter of Warlita told investigators that the assailants broke into their house around midnight while the family was asleep.

The masked suspects entered Warlita’s room and shot her at close range before fleeing into nearby rice fields.

Responding officers recovered six spent .45-caliber cartridge cases, three deformed slugs, and one nine-millimeter shell casing at the crime scene.

Indiape said the method of attack suggested intense personal anger, but the motive remains under investigation.

Human rights groups offered a conflicting narrative about Jimenez’s background and the motive behind her killing.

According to Human Rights Advocates Negros and the September 21 Movement, Warlita Jimenez was a known peasant leader and active member of PAMMACA, a local association of small farmers and agrarian reform advocates in Barangay Camansi.

These groups condemned her killing as part of a continuing wave of violence against rural activists, especially in areas labeled as “insurgency hotspots.”

They claimed that after her husband’s death, Warlita was repeatedly harassed by military personnel and coerced into admitting NPA membership and surrender — allegations strongly denied by her family and community.

“These attacks are a result of state forces targeting civilians under the guise of counterinsurgency,” the September 21 Movement said in a statement.

“As long as the root causes of the war in the Philippines are not addressed and social justice is not achieved, lasting peace will not prevail.”

The group reiterated calls for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, stressing that violence against civilians will continue unless deeper socioeconomic and political issues are resolved.

The incident is the third reported insurgency-linked killing in Barangay Camansi in recent weeks.

On Dec. 20, a Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) member was gunned down for allegedly serving as a military informant. In September and October, two other suspected insurgency-related killings were also recorded in the city, with police filing charges in both cases.

Authorities said they are actively investigating the Dec. 23 killing to determine whether it is part of this series of politically motivated attacks.