NTF-ELCAC calls for justice over 28 civilian killings in Negros

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), through Executive Director Usec. Ernesto C. Torres Jr., on Monday joined the growing call for justice for civilians killed on Negros Island.

This followed reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) that 28 individuals have been slain since March 2025 — an average of two civilians murdered every month.

“This pattern of killings is deeply alarming and morally indefensible. When two civilians are being murdered every month on one island alone, we are no longer speaking of isolated incidents; we are confronting a sustained campaign of terror,” Torres said.

According to the 3ID report, the most recent victim was an elderly woman shot outside her home in Barangay Tapi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental. She was allegedly accused by the New People’s Army (NPA) of being linked to a previous encounter between government troops and communist rebels.

Torres stressed that branding civilians as informants or “spies” without due process effectively paints a target on their backs.

“This is the deadly consequence of so-called ‘spy-tagging.’ Once labeled by the communist terrorist group as a traitor or government asset, a civilian becomes a marked individual — condemned without trial, without evidence, without humanity,” Torres emphasized.

He recalled the earlier killing of Lola Leonor Aguit, an elderly civilian mercilessly slain after being publicly accused by communist elements. Her death, he said, reflects a ruthless pattern of executions carried out against defenseless individuals.

“The killing of Lola Leonor Aguit shocked the conscience of the nation. An elderly woman — publicly vilified, then brutally silenced. That is not armed struggle. That is terrorism inflicted on one’s own people,” Torres said.

Torres warned that the steady average of two fatalities per month signals a disturbing normalization of violence in communities already burdened by poverty and insecurity.

“Two civilians every month is not a statistic — it is a family shattered, a community traumatized, and a future stolen. Violence has no place in communities that are striving for peace and development,” he stressed.

He echoed the call of the 3ID urging the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct a thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation into the killings.

“We respectfully urge the CHR to look squarely into these crimes. Human rights must apply equally to all. The rights of farmers, elderly women, laborers, and ordinary community members in Negros deserve the same vigilance and protection as any other Filipino,” he said.

Torres underscored that the country must reject any narrative that justifies violence against civilians under the guise of ideology.

“This is not revolutionary justice. This is vigilante execution masquerading as ideology. It is a gross violation of the most fundamental right — the right to life.

“Justice must never be selective. Silence in the face of these killings only emboldens further bloodshed. We stand with the families of the victims and demand accountability. The blood of civilians must never be trivialized as collateral to ideology,” Torres concluded.

The NTF-ELCAC reaffirmed its commitment to protecting vulnerable communities and exposing practices that endanger innocent lives under the cloak of insurgent propaganda.