Killed ‘NPA’ in Binalbagan clash a Journ grad, couple-doc’s daughter

One of the New People’s Army red fighters who got killed in a clash with government troops on July 6 in Binalbagan town was a Journalism graduate and daughter of doctor-couple.

The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) spokesperson, Captain Kim Apitong, said today that 26-year-old Nika Ledesma “alias Sara Jane/Chai” was a journalism graduate from the University of San Jose Recoletos-Cebu.

Apitong said Ledesma came from a well-off family, with her parents being doctors, and she previously worked for GMA Network’s DYSS Super Radyo-Cebu.

Ledesma did not proceed with her contract, and based on claims given by the slain rebel’s parents she joined the militant groups Anak Bayan, Kadamay, and Gabriela, Apitong said.

The Army Captain also said that Ledesma regularly joined protest rallies back when she was still in college and they believed that she was “brainwashed” by the such organizations.

In February of this year, the 3ID spokesperson said Ledesma told their house servant that she was going to Manila to join a protest rally, however, she failed to return home and she can no longer be contacted.

In March of this year, Ledesma’s presence in Negros Island was monitored and they learned that she had joined the NPA’s Central Negros Front.

Ledesma, along with three others who were later identified as Roel Sagon, Rowel Udtuhan, and Alden Rodriguez were killed after engaging in a gun battle with elements of the 94th Infantry Battalion and the Negros Occidental Police Mobile Force Company last Wednesday, July 6 in Barangay Bi-ao, Binalbagan.
Apitong added that Ledesma lasted only four months in the NPA.

The rebels encountered in Binalbagan were the ones involved in the ambush of a patrol car of the Binalbagan municipal police station in February of this year, she added.* (DGB/HUKBO file photos of NPA “amazons”, not Ledesma)