NEGROS Occidental Third District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez will no longer push his resolution seeking an inquiry into the armed encounter in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso on April 19, 2026, in which 19 individuals were killed.
"I earlier filed a resolution for inquiry in aid of legislation, intended as a fact-finding measure. I will not push it forward," Benitez said in a statement released on May 10.
Benitez said that multiple investigations are now underway by the proper authorities, including the Commission on Human Rights and the relevant agencies of government.
He said the right course is to let these processes run their full course without political interference.
"Justice is best served by institutions doing their work, not by Congress getting ahead of them," he added.
Benitez earlier filed House Resolution (HR) 969, which seeks an inquiry in aid of legislation on said incident.
"I commend the men and women of the 79th Infantry Battalion, the 3rd Infantry Division, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their service across Negros, and the barangay officials and community members whose vigilance and cooperation make that service possible," he said.
He added that they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the communities from a decades-old insurgency that has cost too many lives, displaced too many families, and stunted too much potential in our countryside.
"The work is hard and dangerous. The people of Negros know it. Those who live in our barangays understand the true situation on the ground," Benitez said.
He said the insurgency in Negros is not an abstraction debated in Manila or argued about online.
"It is a daily reality our farmers, teachers, and local officials live with. It is felt in fear, in displacement, in lost school days, in stalled livelihoods," he added.
On April 19, a total of 19 alleged New People’s Army rebels were killed in what the military claimed as an armed encounter in Barangay Salamanca. Among those killed were a local journalist, a student leader, and two Filipino-Americans.
The lawmaker also urged students, journalists, and researchers who come to Negros to study, document, and serve the communities to coordinate with their academic institutions, the barangay, and the local government unit.
"In parts of our province where the conflict remains live, coordination is a layer of safety. It is not a constraint on your work. We want you to be able to do what you came to do, and to go home safely," Benitez said.
The lawmaker noted that peace in Negros will not be won by force alone.
"Our people need two things in equal measure, protection and new sources of livelihood. Where there is no opportunity, despair grows. And despair is what the insurgency feeds on. We have seen this pattern across generations," he said.
He added that the work ahead, in Congress and in the district, is to keep pushing for both. Stronger security where it is needed, and serious investment in agriculture, tourism, creative industries, and education, the things that give the young people a real future and leave no opening for any movement that promises them otherwise. (MAP)
