Elements of the 94th IB and 47th IB killed Ericson Acosta and Joseph Jimenez on November 30 in Sitio Makilo, Barangay Camansi, Kanbankalan City, Negros Occidental. Acosta was a consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in peace talks while Joseph Jimenez is a local organizer of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and an official of a local peasant organization in Barangay Camansi. The two were apprehended at 2 a.m., but were made to appear to have died in an armed encounter in the morning.

Acosta is a well-known poet, writer and composer. The Party hailed him as one of the important cadres and warriors in Negros. He became part of the NDFP panel preparing the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) during formal peace talks in 2016.

According to preliminary reports of the September 21 Movement, to make it appear than there was an encounter in the area, soldiers fired at Ronald Francisco’s home, where Acosta and Jimenez were resting. After that, Francisco, his wife and three children were taken to a military camp.

Human rights defenders, church people and friends of Acosta and Jimenez called for an impartial investigation into this incident violating humanitarian law.

On November 30, on the very day of their death, democratic organizations gathered before the Commission on Human Rights to condemn the murder of the two.

Two other victims

Instead of administering first aid, troopers of the 62nd IB killed two wounded Red fighters in Sitio Patuatan, Quinten Remo, Moises Padilla on November 28. Mario Baldusa (Ka Jekoy) and Janhel Sarsa (Ka Jorge) were injured in an encounter that morning.

Instead of treating, ascertaining their identity, and declaring them as prisoners of war, the 62nd IB willfully killed the two.

The four adds to the more than 100 revolutionaries and civilians who were not in a position to fight but willfully killed by the military since 2017. The killings violate existing humanitarian rules of warfare and protections for individuals under the CARHRIHL and Geneva Conventions.