BACOLOD CITY – The Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) is concentrating on the forensic examination of evidence recovered from the April 19 encounter in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, where 19 people, including two foreigners and three minors, were killed.

During a forum organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Thursday, May 21, Police Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño, PRO-NIR chief, said authorities are conducting an impartial investigation based on evidence collected from the scene.

“We are doing our best for an impartial investigation. We are focusing on the evidence that we have recovered,” Cardiño said, adding that all evidence would undergo forensic validation. “Hindi natin puwedeng dayain (We cannot cheat),” he added.

Police Col. Reynaldo Calaoa, chief of the Regional Forensic Unit-NIR, disclosed that 11 of the 19 fatalities tested positive for gunpowder residue.

However, he noted that negative results do not necessarily mean a person did not fire a weapon, explaining that environmental conditions and other factors can lead to false negatives.

According to Calaoa, the use of rifles, the open environment, wind direction, and immersion in water may have affected the detection of gunpowder residue.

The encounter reportedly occurred in a fishpond area, where some of the casualties were submerged in water.

He declined to identify the individuals who tested positive while the investigation remains ongoing.

Addressing allegations of mishandling of bodies, Calaoa said not all victims sustained bullet wounds in the back. He confirmed that seven individuals sustained wounds in the back. However, he did not provide medical conclusions on the matter as he was unauthorized.

Major Gen. Michael Samson, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said the encounter was a running gun battle. This, Samson said, made it difficult to determine how the victims were wounded, especially since government forces were acting in self-defense.

“I don’t want to speculate, but this was a gun battle,” he said. “How we wish, na wala sila doon, sana. Siguro hindi nila na-realize ang danger until the event of an encounter (How we wish they were not there. They did not realize the danger of an encounter),” Samson added.

Police Col. Dennis Wenceslao, director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, presented the progress report of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Toboso.

Police recovered 25 firearms, six explosives, 450 cartridges, 34 magazines, four magazine clips, and 204 fired cartridge cases from the encounter site. All recovered firearms were subjected to ballistic examination.

Wenceslao said authorities have documented 56 killings in Negros Occidental since 2023 allegedly admitted by the New People’s Army (NPA) against civilians, including farmers, laborers, barangay officials, barangay watchmen, and former Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) members labelled as spies, military informants, government supporters, or anti-communist personalities.

Five individuals arrested by police in Talisay City, Negros Occidental on April 22 in an operation against a wanted person have been charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and illegal possession of explosives.

One of them served as their driver and was only charged with obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.

They include two suspected NPA leaders believed part of the armed group encountered by the 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Toboso and managed to escape.

Samson noted that because of the hacienda system in Negros, the NPA would use the plight of the farmers to entice them to join the armed struggle.

He said the Philippine Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Negros will continue to intensify its military operations to protect communities from intimidation and threat from the armed group. “It’s our job and mandate, so we will do so,” he added.

Samson said that the bottom line of all these is to put an end to the insurgency problem since many lives and properties have been lost and wasted.

“I think we have learned over the past 50 years. Hindi kami nagkulang sa panawagan (We always urge) sa remaining members to go back to the fold of the law and avail the government programs,” he added.