RJ Nichole Ledesma, a writer and editor at the local Paghimutad Negros and former editor-in-chief of the student newspaper Spectrum, was shot and killed on April 19, 2026, during a Philippine Army anti-insurgency operation in Negros Occidental province.
The military said it killed 19 suspected communist rebels from the New People’s Army in Toboso town in the assault. Ledesma was not present at the initial clash site and was killed in nearby Sitio Plariding, where he was reporting on the impact of renewable energy projects on the community, according to a statement from the Altermidya Network.
Ledesma served as a regional coordinator for the Altermidya Network, a group of local news outlets that report on community issues in marginalized rural areas impacted by the long-running conflict between government forces and the rebels, news reports said.
Military spokesperson Colonel Louie Dema-ala defended the operation, saying claims that some of those killed were merely civilians “deserve closer scrutiny rather than outright acceptance.” Dema-ala alleged those at the clash site were “armed” and “exchanging fire with soldiers.”
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), a state body tasked with investigating media killings, said it could “not conclusively determine” whether Ledesma’s killing was “work-related or directly connected to his journalistic work, community immersion, or alleged involvement in an insurgency” while investigations were ongoing.
“While differing claims have been made by both military authorities and rebel groups, these remain subject to verification by investigators,” PTFOMS Executive Director Jose Torres Jr. said in a May 12 email to CPJ. “What is clear is that RJ Ledesma was known both as a community journalist and as an activist in his locality,” he said.
Ronalyn Olea, secretary-general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, a local press group, told CPJ by email on May 10 that the union had “reasons to believe his killing is work-related,” citing his critical reporting on renewable energy projects and their effects on farming communities in the area.
Rhea Padilla, the Altermidya Network’s national coordinator, told CPJ by email that the network believes that Ledesma’s killing was related to his journalism.
She said Ledesma was on a reporting assignment in Toboso, where he was working on a series of reports on the impact of wind projects and solar farms on the local community, at the time of his killing. Padilla said he had already published three such reports, including one on a land reclamation controversy in March 2026.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.