TWO New People’s Army rebels, including a leader that the National Democratic Front (NDF) said was its consultant in the terminated peace talks with the government, were killed in a firefight with troops in Negros Occidental last Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Magno Mapalad, spokesman of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, named the slain rebel leader as Ericson Acosta, a member of the Komiteng Rehiyon Negros-Cebu-Bohol-Siquijor.
The second slain rebel has yet to be identified, said Mapalad.
Troops from the Army’s 94th and 47th infantry battalions clashed with a group of rebels during a combat operation in Sitio Makilo, Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City at around 2:10 am.
The rebels retreated after a five-minute clash but were again engaged by pursuing troops five minutes later, leading to the death of Acosta and his companion.
Seized from the dead rebels were a KG9 with magazine and ammunition, two cal. 45 pistols with magazine and ammunition, two hand grenades, an NPA flag, a CPP flag, two caps, rebel documents and lecture materials.
NDF Negros Island spokesman Bayani Obrero said Acosta was an NDF consultant working on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).
CASER was the last substantive agenda discussed by government and NDF negotiators before former President Duterte terminated the talks in 2017 due to alleged lack of sincerity on the part of the communists.
Obrero said Acosta’s companion who also died was a “peasant organizer” but did not identify him.
“Today, the Filipino people 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,” said Obrero.
Obrero alleged that Acosta and his companion were “captured” by the soldiers at around 2 a.m. “and a few hours after, tagged them as casualties of a fake encounter.”
“Ka Ericson was here in Negros, particularly in Kabankalan City, to consult on the situation of farm workers in the southern part of Negros Occidental and share developments regarding the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms. He was one of the NDF consultants working on the CASER,” said Obrero.
“According to the NDF-Negros, Ericson was captured alive but later killed. There was no firefight that took place. The manner of killing is consistent with many summary executions made to appear as ‘encounters’ and ‘firefights’,” said Reyes.
Reye said Acosta was an editor of the Philippine Collegian, the campus paper of the University of the Philippines (UP), when they were still UP students, and also served as chairman of Alay Sining ang Stand Up, an alliance of militant organizations at the UP Diliman campus.
Reyes said Acosta was a former member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, a theater actor and songwriter, and a National Book Awardee for poetry.
“He was also a political prisoner from 2011 to 2013. He was released from detention after the Department of Justice junked the trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against him,” said Reyes.
