Philippine Army says ranking NPA official killed in Negros clash

DUMAGUETE CITY — The Philippine Army on Saturday said it has killed a ranking official of the New People's Army (NPA) during a firefight in Negros Occidental last week.

Rogelio Posadas, also known as "Putin," was killed in a clash between the NPA and government forces in a mountainous area between the towns of Isabela and Binalbagan last Thursday, the Army said.

The Army identified Posadas as the secretary of the NPA's regional committee covering Negros Island, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor, who was allegedly behind numerous "assassinations, extortions, kidnappings, arsons and other forms of violence against innocent civilians and government personalities" in the region.

Posada's remains were still at a funeral parlor in Binalbagan, the Army also said.

BGen. Orlando Edralin, commander of the Army's 303rd Infantry Brigade whose battalions clashed with Posada's troops, said the NPA official's death was "a result of the local residents' vigilance."

"We will continue with our relentless conduct of focused military operations until all the NPA members in Negros are neutralized or have surrendered," he said.

Posada's death came six months after another high NPA official in Negros, Juanito Magbanua, was killed in a clash with security forces in October 2022.

It also came days after the NPA's parent organization, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), confirmed the death of its leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, who were reportedly killed in a clash with government forces off the coast of Samar last August. 

The CPP claimed that the Tiamzons had already been dead before their boat was exploded at sea, and had allegedly been captured and tortured beforehand.

But AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar dismissed the CPP's allegations of "capture and torture" as part of the group's propaganda.

• CPP says Tiamzons killed in Samar in August 2022

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