By Jennifer P. Rendon
A good life wasted.
This was how the Philippine Army likened the journey of a campus student activist who ended up dead in an encounter with 61st Infantry Battalion troopers on June 29, 2020 in the hinterland village of Dalije, Miag-ao, Iloilo.
The body of Malvin Christian Cruz was positively identified by his parents on July 3, 2020.
Lieutenant Colonel Joel Benedict Batara, 61st IB commander, said that Cruz, who went by the name Lean/Lucas, was the team leader of Squad 3, Suyak Platoon, Southern Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay.
He was killed in action in an encounter with military soldiers who were conducting combat operations in the hinterland villages of Miag-ao.
Batara said Cruz, whose family hails from Barangay San Nicolas, Oton, Iloilo, studied Bachelor of Science in Statistics at the University of the Philippines Visayas-Miagao Campus in the inclusive years of 2015-2016.
He spent his elementary education at Iloilo Central Elementary School (ICES) and his secondary education at Oton National High School in Oton town.
Batara claimed that Cruz had been an active member of the League of the Filipino Students (LFS) in UPV Miagao campus.
He was recruited and eventually joined the NPA when he was 17 years old.
Information from the Army said that Cruz, being an active member of LFS, used to join rallies and campaigns to address educational issues and school repression.
The armed clash happened after 61IB troops received information from concerned citizens that the NPA had been recruiting minors in San Joaquin and Miagao towns.
They have allegedly set up temporary lairs that will be used as staging area for attacks against government forces and civilians through ambuscades and liquidations.
The NPA members were believed to be under the Suyak (SDG) Platoon, Southern Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay led by Joven Ceralvo.
An M16 armalite rifle was also recovered from Cruz.
Meanwhile, the 61st IB hierarchy has expressed condolences to Cruz’s family and warned the remaining NPA members to surrender and be instruments of peace and development instead.
