A government task force on Tuesday designated Negros Island as the “epicenter” of a campaign of summary executions by communist rebels, alleging a systematic pattern of violence against civilians accused of being government informants.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said that of 59 documented killings nationwide attributed to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) from 2021 through May 2026, 51 occurred on Negros Island.

Ernesto Torres Jr., the task force’s executive director, said 49 of the 51 victims in Negros were killed between January 2025 and May 2026.

“Nearly nine out of every ten victims recorded nationwide from 2025 to the present were killed in Negros,” Torres said in a statement. “This exposes the true face of the so-called people’s war that now victimizes the very people it once claimed to defend.”

The task force said the victims included farmers, laborers, church workers, tricycle drivers, village watchmen, Indigenous leaders, former rebels, and older adults living in conflict-affected communities.

Among those killed was Leonora Anguit, who was executed 3 February in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, after being accused of being an informant, according to the task force.

Torres said Anguit was not a combatant, adding that her death “exposes the horrifying practice of branding civilians as informants to justify executions outside any lawful judicial process.”

The task force connected a recent spike in killings to the aftermath of a 19 April clash between government forces and rebels in Toboso, Negros Occidental.

Following the encounter, at least four civilians were reported killed by remaining NPA fighters in separate incidents.

Authorities identified those victims as Lindio Alvino, killed in Sipalay City on 22 April; Jemar Mahusay, killed in Calatrava on 5 May; Gerry Baitan, killed in Calatrava on 13 May; and Joseph Agustin, a former rebel killed in Binalbagan on 19 May.

Torres said the victims were either publicly accused of being informants or condemned by rebel “kangaroo courts.”

Torres also accused communist front organizations and supporters of selective outrage, alleging they only raise human rights concerns when rebels are killed in military operations.