16/05/2026
Mismong mga residente ng Toboso na ang nagpatunay na hindi armado sina Alyssa, Errol, Mau, RJ, Lyle, at Kai. Bagkus ay nakikiisa pa sila sa ligal na laban ng mga magsasaka para sa land reform habang nakikipamuhay sa kanila at nakikilahok sa gawaing-bukid.
Samantala, inirereklamo naman ng mga residente ang tuloy-tuloy na harrasment ng 79th Infantry Battalion ng AFP mula pa noong 2025. Nararapat lang na managot ang berdugong militar at ang promotor nitong Marcos-Duterte regime. Hustisya sa mga martir ng sambayanan! Itigil ang militarisasyon sa Negros!
PRESS RELEASE
National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission
Toboso, Negros Occidental
15 May 2026
๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐-๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐บ๐, ๐ข๐ป๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ง๐ผ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ผ
A national fact-finding and solidarity mission (NFSM) composed of more than a hundred human rights workers, Makabayan lawmakers, activists, church workers, youth leaders, and journalists found the Philippine military liable for terrorizing farming communities in Negros Occidental following the bloody massacre in Toboso on April 19.
The mission confirms, through witness testimonies, that six of the massacre victims were known civilians, including peasant advocates and peasant organizers, directly contradicting the militaryโs narrative that all those killed were combatants.
Through documented eyewitness testimonies, the mission further confirmed that soldiers committed multiple violations against civilians, including the forcible use of civilian homes as military encampment, harassment and intimidation of residents in the name of counter-insurgency operations, restriction on farming activities, indiscriminate firing near homes, illegal detention, and even the alleged use of a farmer as a human shield.
Members of the mission themselves experienced various forms of harassment during the conduct of the investigation. Delegates reported being tailed by a suspicious individual on a motorcycle who was seen taking photographs of the convoyโs vehicles. During a courtesy call at the Barangay Hall of Barangay Salamanca, around five unidentified individuals were also observed openly photographing the delegates, raising serious concerns over surveillance and intimidation aimed at obstructing independent human rights documentation efforts. Residents likewise reported the presence of the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in the area days prior to the mission.
Meanwhile, Sadie Stone, an American pastor and member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), was disallowed entry in the Philippines for being blacklisted allegedly for participating in โpolitical activitiesโ in 2016. Stone was supposed to join the National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission.
The mission strongly condemns these deplorable acts, alongside the militaryโs continued denial of massacring non-combatants. Acts that terrorize and endanger civilians constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions.
The mission calls for accountability from the AFP, an end to the militarization in Negros, and justice for all victims in the Negros 19 massacre.