‘OUTPOUR OF NEW BLOOD’

NDF consultant, ‘peasant worker’ die as armed clash erupts in Kabankalan City

AS THE COUNTRY commemorated the martyrdom of Filipino revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio yesterday, November 30, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) was killed following an armed encounter between government troops and suspected members of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) at the hinterlands of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.

Ndf-negros spokesperson Ka Bayani Obrero, in a statement, said Ericson Acosta and his companion, a peasant organizer, were captured alive at about 2 a.m at Sitio Makilo in the city’s Barangay Camansi.

Few hours later, the army tagged them as casualties of what Obrero said was a “fake encounter.”

“Ka Ericson was here in Negros, particularly in Kabankalan City, to consult on the situation of farmworkers in the southern part of Negros Occidental and share developments regarding the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (Caser),” he said.

Obrero added that they condemned the 94th and 47th Infantry Battalion (IB) troopers for the death of Acosta.

He said the entire revolutionary forces and the broad masses in Negros offer the highest tribute to Acosta.

“Today, the Filipino people have lost a revolutionary, propagandist, poet, song writer, journalist, and thespian. His bloody murder is added fuel to the already seething social volcano in Negros and will bring forth an outpour of new blood to the national democratic revolution,” the rebel spokesman said.

But 303rd Infantry Brigade commander Brigadier General Inocencio Pasaporte maintained that the encounter was legitimate.

In fact, he said Acosta and his wife, Kerima Tariman, were part of the team sent to Negros island for the rebels’ recovery efforts.

Tariman was also killed during a gun battle between the government forces and the CTGS at the hinterlands of Hacienda Raymunda at Barangay Kapitan Ramon, Silay City, Negros Occidental on August 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Van Donald Almonte, commander of the 94th IB, said the residents from Sitio Makilo were complaining about the daily extortion of food supplies by the rebels.

Almonte said the group is boasting that they are involved in the series of encounters at the mountainous area of Barangay Carabalan in the province’s Himamaylan City last month.

Upon receiving the information, their troops and that of the 94th IB conducted a joint combat operation in the area where they encountered about 10 armed CTG members who retreated after 10 minutes leaving their dead companions behind, he said.

A KG9 rifle with magazine and ammunition, two .45 caliber pistols with magazines and ammunition, two hand grenades, two revolutionary flags, subversive documents and lecture materials among others were recovered from the encounter site, he also said.

“This is a clear display that the NPAS are becoming irrelevant in the communities of Kabankalan City and Negros as a whole (and) the people of Negros are now aware that the armed struggle is pointless because the government is now acting on the needs of the people,” the military official noted as he urged other CTGS to surrender.*