In the early morning of 6 July, combined forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police raided a farm in a distant village in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental province, in central Philippines, where six members of the New People's Army were resting. Four of the NPA were captured without a fight and executed by the AFP-PNP.

A number of the victims were suffering from flu and other illnesses, and had to stay in the village to recuperate. They were barely armed and not in a position to give battle at the time. The executed Red fighters were later identified as Roel Ladera, Nikka dela Cruz, Alden Rodriguez and Roel Deguit.

Bayani Obrero, Spokesperson of the National Democratic Front - Negros, reported on 9 July, “A number of residents in the area tried to help the ailing Red fighters, but soldiers opened fire and lobbed hand grenades at community wells, claiming other NPAs might be hiding there.

Moments later, they were summarily executed akin to a firing squad. Then their corpses were repositioned for photos, to make it appear they died in battle.”

The NDF Negros asserted that the killing of the NPA hors de combat is a violation of International Humanitarian Law embodied in the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law signed between the NDFP and the Manila government.

Revolutionary organizations and the people of Negros conveyed their condolences to the bereaved family of Nikka ‘Ka Chai’ dela Cruz and the three other NPA hors de combat. “Her death further accentuates the executioner and terrorist character of 94th Infantry Battalion and the AFP in general,” Ka Bayani said.

Ka Chai was a journalism graduate who, while working as a radio and newspaper reporter, immersed herself in practical struggles of the urban poor. Persecuted by the reactionary state, she worked underground organizing students and intellectuals and later joined the armed struggle.

Ka Bayani concluded, “The extreme socio-economic crisis and the intensifying political repression and state terrorism under the illegitimate Marcos II regime will only drive more people towards the path of armed struggle. Youth in their greater numbers will continue the unfinished mission of Ka Chai and the countless martyrs of the revolution.”