JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF TOBOSO MASSACRE! UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW!

The International Women’s Alliance (IWA) Europe expresses it’s deep concern on the indiscriminate and inordinate killing of 19 people in Barangay Salamanca, municipality of Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines, by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the 79th Infantry Battalion last April 19. 

Of the 19 killed, 9 were civilians belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, women, local peasant organizers, and human rights defenders. Among them were Alyssa Alano, a councilor of the University of the Philippines (UP) Student Council; Maureen Keil Santuyo, member of the , National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA Youth); Jemina Gumadlas, resident of Barangay Salamanca, Toboso; Kai Sorem from Seattle, U.S.A. and 5 men including Lyle Prijoles of the International Coalition of Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) from San Francisco, California, U.S.A., RJ Nichole Ledesma, a journalist, Errol Wendell, a n UMA (Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Roel Sabollo of Toboso town and Dexter Patajo of Calatrava town. 

According to the families, friends, and classmates of the deceased, they were in the area for community immersion and research on the situation of Toboso, the poorest municipality of Negros Occidental when they were caught in the crossfire between the liberation fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

Individuals, communities and organizations openly critical of the government and calling for systemic social change in the country are subjected to massacres, bombings and military operations, red-tagging, illegal arrests on trumped up charges, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. Militarization exacts a particular brutality on women and children—yet time and again, women continue to be at the forefront of resistance and leading movements for genuine social change, refusing to be silenced despite intimidation, violence, and loss. 

In the aftermath of the massacre, the AFP forcibly evacuated local residents then cordoned them off to impose an information blackout and prevent the media and independent groups from conducting interviews and an effective investigation into the killings. Days later, a military-organized group was allowed to conduct its own “fact finding mission,” designed to fabricate an AFP-certified story that aligns with their official narrative of a “legitimate operation.” 

The Toboso massacre points to the probable violation of international laws in the number of civilian casualties, coupled with initial forensic data on how several of them were killed, giving disturbing signs of potential violations of legal norms. International laws state that civilians caught in armed conflict must be protected and should not be targeted by combatants and that state forces must desist from military operations that would clearly endanger civilians. The deaths of hors de combat and non-combatants should also be investigated. 

In addition, the massacre is also in clear violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on March 16, 1998. 

The International Women’s Alliance (IWA) stands with the families and friends of the victims, women and youth organizations, journalists, peasant and community organizations, solidarity allies of the Filipino people and human rights defenders and organizations in the Philippines to immediately launch an independent international investigation of the Toboso massacre in the quest for justice for the victims, the possible liability of the Marcos Jr. government and its state forces, thereby holding perpetrators of human rights violations accountable. 

IWA stands with the Filipino people in their quest for just peace, genuine democracy, gender equality and the ultimate liberation of their society from all forms of oppression. 

Justice for the victims of the Toboso Massacre!

Oppose fascist attacks against the Filipino people!

Stop the killings in the Philippines! 

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