COMMUNITY journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma was among the 19 people killed in a series of armed encounters between government troops and suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Negros Occidental on Sunday.
The confirmation was made by Altermidya Network on Wednesday, as authorities have yet to release the complete official list of fatalities. Ledesma, 30, served as the editor of Paghimutad Negros Island Alternative Media and was the regional coordinator for Altermidya.
According to the media group, Ledesma was in the area not to engage in combat, but to perform legitimate journalistic work.
He was reportedly documenting the impact of renewable energy projects, such as solar farms and windmills, on local farming communities. A graduate of psychology from the University of St. La Salle, Ledesma was also a former student leader and editor-in-chief of their campus paper, Spectrum. He had been covering human rights issues, land disputes, and the conditions of farmworkers since 2020.
Human Rights Advocates Negros claimed that Ledesma was not killed in the initial clash site but was attacked separately in Sitio Plariding, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, during a subsequent pursuit operation by soldiers. The organization emphasized the distinction between the encounter site and the location where the journalist was found. Furthermore, Paghimutad Negros disclosed that their organization and members, including Ledesma, had long been subjected to red-tagging and vilification prior to the incident.
Altermidya expressed deep mourning for the loss of their colleague, stating that Ledesma served marginalized communities until his last breath. “We give the highest honor to our colleague RJ… We demand justice for RJ Ledesma,” the group said in a statement.
Ledesma was also the seventh nominee of the Kabataan party-list during the 2022 national elections. The military had earlier announced that the operation resulted in the demise of supposed NPA remnants, but the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s death remain a subject of concern and investigation.
