San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza in a Facebook post published yesterday, September 23, challenged the Philippine military’s report of an encounter with rebels on September 21.

On September 21, around 7:50 in the evening in Sitio Lubi, Brgy. Tabugon, Kabankalan City, soldiers of the 47th Infantry Battalion fired at six people, killing them. Three of the victims were medical personnel of the New People’s Army (NPA) along with a tricycle driver and a couple on medical leave as the wife was six months pregnant. The victims were on board a hired tricycle traveling along Sitio Lubi at the time of the attack.

In a statement released on September 22, the Armando Sumayang Jr Command of the NPA condemned the killings and identified the victims as Bobby Pedro, Mario Mullon and Janice Flores as the three medical personnel, Alejo delos Reyes and Melissa dela Pena as the couple, and Robin Gaitan as the tricycle driver.

In a local radio interview that aired on September 22, Ariel Gaitan insisted that her husband Robin is not a rebel, as framed by the AFP, but worked at Southern Negros Development Corporation (SONEDCO).

Alminaza questioned whether the attack was an encounter or a “massacre”, pointing out five of the victims were noncombatants and the tricycle driver was a civilian.

The victims were “hors de combat”, a term used by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to describe a person who cannot fight due to being sick, wounded, captured or incapacitated.

“These persons are not allowed to be attacked or harmed because they pose no threat,” Alminaza shared.

Alminaza highlighted the fundamental principles of IHL, including the distinction between civilians and combatants, the prohibition to attack those hors de combat (i.e. those not directly engaged in hostilities), the prohibition to inflict unnecessary suffering, the principle of necessity and the principle of proportionality.

“The Martens Clause states that even in situations not covered expressly by codified IHL instruments, both combatants and civilians have a minimum level of protection, namely that all hostilities should be regulated by the principles of the law of nations as they result from the usages of international law, from the laws of humanity, and from the dictates of public conscience,” Alminaza added.

National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros Spokesperson Ka Bayani Obrero in a separate statement said the “‘encounter’ narratives peddled by the AFP ar cover-up for their crimes.”

Obrero also called attention to the abduction of Deah Lopez, who remains missing, and tricycle driver Peter Agravante, whose corpse was found dumped hours after their abduction on September 15 in Basay, Negros Oriental.

Bishop Alminaza in his Facebook post called on the Commission on Human Rights and Independent Bodies to investigate  the killings in Negros, and concluded, “Stop making Negros a killing field! Don’t kill non-combatants and civilians!”