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NDF consultant Ericson Acosta, comrade killed in Negros military opn

By J.Lo

“NDF Negros, in the strongest terms, condemns 94th IB, 47th IB and top dogs of the 3rd ID for  summary execution of Ka Ericson and his companion,” National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros spokesman Ka Bayani Obrero said NDF consultant Ericson Acosta and a peasant organizer were killed in a military operation in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.

In a statement, Obrero said  94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) and 47th Infantry Battalion (47IB) captured the two alive in Sitio Makilo, Barangay Camansi around 2:00 in the morning.

But a few hours later, Obrero said military tagged both Acosta and his companion “casualties of  fake encounter”.

“The two were victims of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ despicable policy of ‘taking no prisoners’ in their counter-insurgency campaign,” he stressed.

Obrero said Acosta was in Kabankalan City to consult on the situation of farm workers in the southern Negros Occidental and share developments on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).

In a separate statement, progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. described the deaths of Acosta and his companion as “summary executions” because “there was no firefight that took place.”

“There was no firefight that took place…the manner of killing is consistent with many summary executions made to appear as ‘encounters’ and ‘firefights,” he said.

AFP spokesman Colonel Medel Aguilar called the statement of NDF-Negros “lies,” saying that the group was trying to discredit  AFP.

“What we hear from NDF-Negros are lies…their statements are far from truth to merit our people’s attention…they will not succeed in their attempt to discredit our organization,” Aguilar told media.

According to a report from the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), two persons from Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were killed in an “encounter.”

The 3ID said  first encounter took place around 2:10 in the morning. while the two battalions were conducting  joint combat operation in the area after residents reported  presence of supposed NPA rebels.

After  five-minute firefight, the NPAs withdrew southward, the military said.

Another encounter occurred 100 meters from the first clash site around 2:15 a.m. as the troops conducted pursuit operations.

“The ten-minute exchange of fire yielded two unidentified dead NPAs,” the 3ID said.

According to the military, seized from deceased suspected rebels were  KG9 with magazine and ammunition, two Cal.45 Pistol with magazines and ammunition, two hand grenades, documents, and lecture materials.

“The successive debacle of  NPA terrorist in Negros is  clear manifestation that they are losing grip and influence over their claimed mass base,” 3ID commander Major General Benedict Arevalo said.

According to Bayan, Acosta was an NDF consultant during the peace talks in 2016 to 2017 for the drafting of the agreement on socio-economic reforms.

He also participated in the formal peace talks and discussions of the reciprocal working committees, it concluded.

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