24/04/2026
DEFEND NEGROS! Justice for the victims of Toboso massacre!
Anakbayan Melbourne statement
On April 19, the 303rd Infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) killed 19 individuals and displaced 653 residents in the peasant communities of Toboso, Negros Occidental. Amongst those killed were University of the Philippines Diliman Student Councillor Alyssa Alano and Altermidya journalist, RJ Ladesma. Both were civilians immersing themselves in peasant communities, living and struggling with them as they daily toiled the vast sugar cane fields of Negros.
The AFP and the fascist US-Marcos regime are sorely mistaken in thinking that they can silence the people’s resistance, particularly that of the youth. We give the highest honours to the people’s martyrs who served the oppressed and exploited Filipino masses until their very last breath. Their blood waters the soil in which countless more will emerge, asserting the justice that has long been denied to the peasants of Negros and the entire Filipino people. They will forever serve as a beacon of inspiration to the thousands and millions of youth who are ever more determined to persevere along the path of the people’s struggle for genuine liberation.
As we mourn our martyrs, we also transform our grief into an undying resolve to continue what they left behind, to serve the oppressed and exploited people wholeheartedly and bring their just struggles to victory. Their lives which were lived in struggle with the marginalised lets us know that a new world is indeed possible, and in honouring their memory, we make the pledge of bringing it about.
