BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Negros Occidental will investigate the encounter between the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) and suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
The two-day encounter in Barangay Oringao, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental began on Saturday, Feb. 4.
CHR-Negros Occidental officer-in-charge Vincent Para said they will visit the encounter site and determine if human rights violations were committed.
Authorities have identified the three fatalities as suspected rebels 40-year-old Joemarie Calumba, 42-year-old Junjun Callete, and 70-year-old Diomedes Lasida.
Calumba’s wife denied that her husband was a rebel and insisted that he was a farm laborer.
Callete’s mother, meanwhile, confirmed her son joined the NPA in 2022 against her advice.
The encounters pushed at least 800 residents of puroks Pitgong, Mansawin and Pag-imokan in Barangay Oringao to flee their homes.
Aside from the three fatalities, the government forces also recovered a loaded M14 rifle, a .45 pistol with magazines and ammunition, a .38 pistol, backpacks, subversive documents, and the personal belongings./PN
