MOTHER’S GRIEF. Rosalita Ariola (left) grieves over 21-year-old Anthony “Nonoy” Ariola (right), who was killed in a clash with government troops in the hinterlands of Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Aug. 10, 2022. Nonoy's body was recovered by the Army at the clash site. (Images courtesy of 94th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army)
BACOLOD CITY – A woman from Barangay Buenavista in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental has expressed the pain of losing her son who was recruited by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), which for years has influenced sitios (hamlets) in the remote village.
Rosalita Ariola, a resident of Sitio Bugo, is the mother of Anthony “Nonoy” Ariola, 21, who was killed in a clash with government troops in neighboring Sitio Bulasot on August 10.
“To those who recruited him, you are shameless. You brought my son along and then you left him in the forest. You have no mercy. If his body was not found by the Army, maybe you would have just buried him in a shallow grave,” the grieving mother said in a mix of Cebuano and Hiligaynon in a video released by the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) on Thursday.
Ariola shared that her son was away from their family for three years, and she was unaware he was just near them, fighting with the NPA, until she claimed his body at a funeral home on August 11.
She said a few years back, she sold hogs and used their savings from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash aid to buy a horse worth PHP14,000 for Nonoy, who was then in Grade 10, so he would have a ride to school.
However, in the middle of the school year, Nonoy decided to stop and said he might go to Manila to work.
“While he was telling me about his plan, two persons from an ‘agency’, whom I thought were ‘recruiters’, were waiting for him outside. He said he will stay there for two years. I even gave him PHP2,000,” the mother said.
Ariola added that she did not stop her son from leaving because she loves him and did not want him to be sad.
“I said, ‘The Lord bless you in your travel. I will pray for you. Please pray also. If you want to go back to school just come home,’” she recalled telling him.
Ariola added that she was counting on Nonoy and her other children to get an education to have a better life.
“We are poor. I’m thankful we are receiving assistance from 4Ps, that the government is helping us. I thought ‘If my son can now go to school, he can help me,’” she said.
“I sacrificed a lot. I sell bananas so we can eat. I love my son. If he just came home, I would have sent him to school in Grade 10,” Ariola said.
Lt. Col. Van Donald Almonte, commander of 94IB, earlier said his unit had dispatched troops to Sitio Bulasot after residents reported the presence of armed rebels demanding money and food.
Troops of the 94IB engaged the rebels and later recovered Nonoy’s body along with various weapons left behind by his comrades.
“We grieve with the family of the fallen NPA rebel. The communist-terrorist groups should stop destroying the dreams of the youth and the families of isolated communities in central Negros,” Almonte said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front has also been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
