https://aseanmp.org/publications/post/toboso-19-asean-parliamentarians-c...
JAKARTA, 29 April 2026—ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) condemns the killing of 19 individuals by the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19, 2026. Nine of those slain have since been identified as civilians including community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, UP students Alyssa Alano and Maureen Keil Santuyo, community researcher Errol Wendel Chen, Filipino-American advocates Kai Dana-Rene Sorem and Lyle Prijoles, local resident Roel Sabillo, and two unnamed minors.
“Nine civilians were killed in Toboso, including a journalist and two minors. An operation that cannot distinguish between armed combatants and community workers is an indiscriminate attack that violates international humanitarian law. The AFP must be held accountable,”said Mercy Chriesty Barends, Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and APHR Chairperson.
Ledesma, 30, was regional coordinator of the Altermidya Network. According to Altermidya, he was not at the initial clash site but was killed separately in Sitio Plariding during a military pursuit operation. Alano was a UP Diliman student council member living alongside farmers in Negros. Santuyo and Chen were peasant advocates documenting sugarcane workers’ conditions. Prijoles, a Filipino-American from California, was on community immersion when the operation occurred.
The AFP maintains all 19 were members of the New People’s Army (NPA), citing the seizure of 24 firearms. However, due to inconsistencies in claims of the victims’ identities, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has launched an independent investigation, stating that “in case of doubt, persons shall be presumed civilians.” CHR has also flagged the displacement of at least 167 families—653 individuals—from the area.
These killings follow a pattern of state-enabled repression. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020—allowing warrantless arrests and detention without charge—has been weaponized against journalists, activists, and community workers. The practice of red-tagging, labeling critics as communist sympathizers, operates as a precursor to violence. The AFP’s blanket labeling of all 19 victims as NPA members fits this pattern. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has documented 156 journalists killed in the Philippines since 1986, and Reporters Without Borders ranked the country 116th out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
“The AFP does not operate in a vacuum. These killings happen because the Philippine government allows them to. A government that kills civilians and calls them terrorists cannot lead a region toward democratic governance,” said Wong Chen, Member of Parliament for Subang, Malaysia and APHR Board Member.
Under International Humanitarian Law, willfully killing civilians constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. APHR calls on the Philippine government to ensure an independent CHR and other investigations free from military interference; cease counterinsurgency operations endangering civilians and human rights defenders; and protect and assist displaced families.
As the 2026 ASEAN Chair, the Philippines must lead by example—not by silencing those who speak truth to power but by protecting them.
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