KARAPATAN Slams US Embassy Alert as “Red-Tagging Playbook” Following Toboso Massacre

[KARAPATAN Public Information]

PRESS RELEASE

May 3, 2026

KARAPATAN Slams US Embassy Alert as “Red-Tagging Playbook” Following Negros 19 Massacre

KARAPATAN lambasted a security alert from the US Embassy issued after two American citizens were among 19 persons killed in a military attack in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19, 2026, saying it sounded like it was straight out of a red- and terror-tagging playbook.

KARAPATAN national council member Raoul Manuel noted that the alert warns American citizens against “affiliating with terrorist or insurgent groups” and alarmingly claims that “some nongovernmental organizations have affiliations with the NPA and other violent groups.”

“If you didn’t know that this was from the US Embassy, you would think it was issued by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)," said Manuel. “But then,” he continued, “the US not only supports red- and terror-tagging. US counter-insurgency doctrine is the basis for all of the NTF-ELCAC’s actions against progressives and other dissenters.”

For Manuel, the US Embassy alert also pointedly disregards the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law (IHL), which states that parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between combatants and civilians. Under IHL, only combatants may be lawfully targeted; civilians must not be attacked unless and for such time that they take a direct part in hostilities. In contrast, said Manuel, the US Embassy echoes the AFP line that ‘anyone in proximity of NPA elements is at grave risk of arrest, injury or even death,’ blurring the line between combatants and civilians.

This dangerous mindset of deliberately conflating armed resistance with militant protest has already cost the lives and liberty of so many activists, dissenters and political opponents of the ruling regime, Manuel pointed out. "With the US as the main global proponent of red- and terror-tagging, is it any wonder that the Marcos Jr. regime is hellbent on continuing this despicable practice?" concluded Manuel.

Reference: Former Rep. Raoul Manuel, KARAPATAN National Council member
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580

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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.