KARAPATAN: AFP Haunted by Its Own Lies After Toboso Massacre
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
May 21, 2026
References: Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN Deputy Secretary General, 09452966916
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: AFP Haunted by Its Own Lies After Toboso Massacre
Human rights alliance KARAPATAN lambasted the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for attempting to discredit the recently concluded National Fact Finding and Solidarity Mission (NFFSM) in Toboso, Negros Occidental, while recycling narratives that further expose inconsistencies in the military’s version of events surrounding the Toboso massacre.
The NFFSM, joined by more than a hundred delegates from various organizations, earlier revealed testimonies from residents describing indiscriminate firing, forced evacuations, drone surveillance, harassment, and restrictions on livelihood imposed by state forces before and after the April 19, 2026 incident that left ten members of the New People’s Army and nine civilians dead.
“We busted the AFP’s lies that the casualties were all combatants through the undeniable findings of the NFFSM, and the truth obviously hurt them. The AFP is now being haunted by ghosts of its own making after the Toboso massacre, and their own statements during their press conference only deepen public suspicion and strengthen the findings of the NFFSM,” said Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN deputy secretary general. “Their explanations only raise more questions that require an independent and credible investigation,” she added.
Taule also criticized the AFP for dismissing reports of harassment and intimidation in affected communities while relying on certifications from local officials to claim there were supposedly no complaints from residents.
“The testimonies of residents point to clear violations of international humanitarian law, violations which the military has long denied,” she said. “The people want the military out of their communities. No amount of certification-making can erase these testimonies.”
KARAPATAN further condemned the AFP’s public release of photos of cadavers during the press conference, calling it “dehumanizing and deeply insensitive” to the victims and their families.
“Instead of addressing serious allegations of violations of international humanitarian law, they paraded the bodies of the dead before the media to reinforce a pre-packaged narrative,” Taule said.
The rights group also questioned the AFP’s attempt to justify gunshot wounds found on the backs of victims’ bodies by claiming there were wounds in other parts of the body.
“This does not erase findings pointing to possible execution-style killings or attacks on persons rendered hors de combat. Such matters warrant serious and impartial investigation—not dismissive and self-serving explanations from the very institution being implicated,” Taule stressed.
KARAPATAN also criticized the AFP for framing the armed conflict purely as a problem of recruitment and propaganda while refusing to confront the roots of armed resistance.
“The AFP insists that the armed movement persists because of recruitment and propaganda, while deliberately ignoring the realities that drive people toward resistance,” Taule said.
“Poverty, landlessness, state repression, corruption, and systemic injustice continue to plague Filipino communities. Successive governments have failed to address these root causes of armed conflict, relying instead on militarization, red-tagging, and disinformation,” the group added.
“KARAPATAN joins the people in demanding that the AFP stop glossing over the reality of oppression and exploitation and stop evading accountability for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. We continue to stand in solidarity with the people in exposing the AFP’s lies and opposing repression,” Taule concluded.#
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.