Hundreds of residents joined the funeral of slain New People’s Army commander Roger Fabillar on Thursday, April 23 in Toboso, Negros Occidental braving possible military surveillance and retaliation as the longtime guerrilla leader was laid to rest.
Dozens of trucks and other large vehicles, along with an even greater number of motorcycles, formed a long motorcade that accompanied Fabillar’s remains to the Toboso Municipal Cemetery.
A report by DYAG Hapi Radio FM in nearby Sagay City said exact numbers were difficult to determine, but noted that the turnout reflected strong community participation. The burial was described as peaceful and attended by a large number of supporters and relatives.
Videos shared online showed hundreds participating in the procession for Fabillar, also known as Ka Jhong, a figure known among comrades and farming communities across Negros Island.
Fabillar was among a small unit of guerrilla fighters who engaged troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion in a reported 12-hour firefight in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, on April 19. Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Marco Valbuena earlier clarified that the unit killed in Toboso was composed of a 10-member squad including Ka Roger Fabillar who served as NPA commander of the Northern Negros front, Sonny Boy Caramihan, Rene Villarin, Pedro Bonghanoy, Arnel Javoc, Joros Caramihan, Maria Clarita Blanco, Genevieve Balora, Labskie Enustacion, and Jocel Gimang.
The remaining 9, according to Valbuena, are non-combatants who were integrating with the peasant masses in the area where the encounter took place. Included in the list of non-combatants are Roel Sabillo (19), journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma (30), student leader Alyssa Alano (26), peasant advocates Maureen Keil Santuyo (24) and Errol Wendel (24), minors Jemima Gumadlas (15) and Dexter Patajo (17), and Filipino-American activists Lyle Prijoles (40) and Kai Sorem (26).
The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command, the regional command of the NPA on Negros Island, paid tribute to those killed in the clash.
“Their names are now etched into the long history of the struggle for land and justice on this island,” the group said.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines also criticized the Armed Forces of the Philippines for what they described as a propaganda campaign after the incident.
“The AFP’s propaganda offensives following the Toboso massacre have been aimed at dehumanizing the victims and denying them dignity in death. By reducing the slain to labels and repeating claims that the armed revolutionary movement has been defeated, the regime seeks to justify its war crimes and conceal the political roots of the armed conflict.”
“No matter how the AFP lies to slander the slain martyrs of Toboso, the masses know the truth. They know that those who offered their lives in the struggle to liberate the people from oppression and exploitation are among the best sons and daughters of the motherland. Their names live in the memory, respect and unending gratitude of the people they selflessly served,” the NDFP added.
The large public turnout at the funeral underscored continuing sympathy for armed revolutionaries in parts of Negros, where landlessness, rural poverty, and longstanding agrarian conflicts remain deeply rooted social issues.
