NTF-ELCAC calls for UN probe Into 99 killings by rebels in PH

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Sunday night said no armed group has the right to execute anyone, as it reiterated its call for the United Nations (UN) to investigate the 99 killings attributed to the communist insurgents.

"No political front can confer immunity. No 'kangaroo court' can place itself above the law. No armed organization has the right to execute defenseless Filipinos," it said in a statement.

The NTF-ELCAC issued this comment after the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said that the task force's calls for a UN probe are just an effort to "salvage its discredited anti-insurgency campaign" and redirect scrutiny away from state-sponsored abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

"The NDFP cannot answer 99 reported killings with 99 excuses. It cannot erase the NPA's (New People's Army's) own admissions by changing the subject. And it cannot invoke human rights as a shield against scrutiny while demanding that its accusations against others be accepted without question," the task force said.

The task force said the number of reported killings by the NPAs rose to 99 with the addition of Junard Mansalon, 42, of Sitio Namutang, Barangay Makilignit, Isabela, Negros Occidental, who was reportedly killed by the Leonardo Panaligan Command-New People's Army on Oct. 16, 2026.

"The NDFP's dismissal of the killings as gossip is no substitute for evidence. NTF-ELCAC has now documented 99 alleged killings and summary executions between 2021 and October 2026, including the latest reported killing of Mansalon in Negros Occidental," it said, urging the NDFP to identify the supposedly fabricated incidents, present contrary evidence, and explain the NPA's acknowledged executions.