US Edition
Military: Detained suspected NPA rebels clashed with soldiers in Negros
- On Wednesday, the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region confirmed that six of 19 fatalities from the April 19 Toboso clash have been positively identified and claimed by their families.
- The Philippine Army reported 19 alleged New People's Army rebels were killed during a series of "encounters" with the 79th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, on April 19.
- Among those killed was 30-year-old journalist and activist RJ Nichole Ledesma, a correspondent for the People's Alternative Media Network , and Alyssa Alano, confirmed by the UP Diliman University Student Council.
- Police authorities are validating records for the remaining unidentified victims through medico-legal documentation, with PRO NIR Director Gen. Arnold Thomas C. Ibay emphasizing commitment to compassion for grieving families.
- Colleagues and the Altermidya Network mourned Ledesma's loss, recognizing him as a former editor-in-chief of The Spectrum who championed investigative journalism on marginalized communities throughout Negros.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Student leader Alyssa Alano and people’s journalist RJ Ledesma among the 19 killed in Negros by the Philippine military
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from BAYAN USA. Filipinos overseas are heartbroken after witnessing the news of the 303rd Infantry Brigade led-attack on April 19 of 19 individuals and forcibly displaced more than 653 residents from 168 households in peasant communities in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Among the 19 killed, the families, friends and fellow organizers have confirmed Alyssa Alano and RJ Ledesma were among…
Rights groups on Negros killings: Possibility of a massacre should be investigated
Human rights and press freedom groups are calling for an independent probe into the killing of 19 people during a military operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental, after colleagues of a slain journalist and a former student leader said neither was armed nor at the initial clash site.
RJ Ledesma: Poet, human rights activist, journalist writes 30
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — RJ Nichole Ledesma, a poet, human rights activist, and journalist, met a tragic death during a clash between communist rebels and government forces. Ledesma, a 30-year-old correspondent-slash-coordinator of the People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) in the Negros Island Region, was among the 19 people killed in a bloody incident that took place in remote Sitio Sinugmawan, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso town,…
UP student leader's death in military 'encounter' with NPA rebels in Negros condemned
MANILA, Philippines — Students from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City are in mourning after one of their own was killed in what the military described as an encounter with rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Toboso, Negros Occidental last April 19, 2026.The UP Diliman University Student Council confirmed late on Wednesday that the victim was identified as Alyssa Alano, an Education and Research Councilor.“In con…
PNP names 6 of 19 fatalities in Negros Occidental clash
BACOLOD CITY—The Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO NIR) has activated a Special Investigation Task Group to establish the identities of bodies recovered following a series of “encounters” in Toboso, Negros Occidental, on Sunday. Through forensic examination, documentation, and coordination with local government units and relatives, the task group aims to provide a formal accounting of the deceased, said the PRO NIR statement. Th…
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