27/04/2026
Migrante Australia demands justice and accountability for the murder of 19 individuals and displacement of 650 residents from their household in Toboso, Negros during the Armed Forces of the Phillippines’ (AFP) military operations last 19th of April.
We must not let the AFP get away with their twisted narrative of painting this as a legitimate armed encounter with the New People’s Army and expose this for what it is – murder of innocent civilians by the 79th IB. The AFP and other state forces have a proven track record of harassing, intimidating, and killing peasants and activists in Negros who stand up for and defend people’s right to their land. Among the victims of the recent attack were Alyssa Alano, student leader and peasant organiser, RJ Nichole Ledesma, human rights activist and journalist, Errol Wendel, a community researcher, Maureen Santuyo, a peasant advocate, Lyle Prijoles, Filipino-American human rights advocate, and Kai Sorem, youth activist and cultural worker. All of them are the true defenders of the people, serving the most marginalised in our country.
Negros has always been the site of peasant struggles for land, which can be traced back to the time of Spanish colonialism. Under the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, sugar cronies Benedicto and Cojuangco bled Negros dry. 190,000 sugar workers lost their livelihoods, 350,000 children suffered malnutrition, and the military massacred 20 farmers in Escalante in 1985 rather than address the famine they created. The fall of the dictatorship brought no justice and no structural change. Landlessness, poverty, and feudal control persist to this day. Under Marcos Jr., large-scale land grabbing, destructive corporate projects, and state policies like Memorandum Order No. 32 have only deepened the crisis, escalating militarisation, red-tagging, and killings of peasants, rural organisers, and rights defenders who courageously stand up for their rights.
We strongly condemn the Marcos regime’s NAP-UPD (National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development) and the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) for the systemic harassment, surveillance, red-tagging, and killing of peasants, rural organisers, human rights defenders in the countryside who are rightfully defending the rights of the oppressed.
Filipinos overseas who are committed to upholding the rights of the people in the Philippines should not have to fear going back home, whether in the cities or in the countryside.
Filipino migrants in Australia grieve and demand justice for all the victims and their families as well as the people of Negros. We will continue to struggle for genuine democracy and call for an end to the militarisation of our rural communities in Negros.
DEFEND NEGROS!
MILITAR SA KANAYUNAN, PALAYASIN!
UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW!
Migrante Australia | April 2026
