URGENT ALERT: 19 persons killed in military operations in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines
KARAPATAN Public Information
URGENT ALERT
19 persons killed in military operations in
Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines
UA Date : 04 May 2026
UA Case : Extrajudicial killing, Massacre
Place of Incident : Barangay Salamanca, Municipality of Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Date of Incident : 19 April 2026, early morning (exact time to be confirmed)
Victim/s : A total of nineteen (19) individuals
Nine (9) civilians:
1. RJ Nichole Ledesma, 30, male, community journalist from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
2. Alyssa Alano, 22, female, student leader from University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
3. Errol Wendel, 24, peasant rights advocate and cultural worker
4. Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, peasant rights advocate and community organizer
5. Roel Sabillo, 19, farmer, resident of Barangay Tabunac, Toboso, Negros Occidental
6. Lyle Prijoles, 40, human rights defender, from San Francisco, California, USA
7. Kai Sorem, 26, human rights defender, from Seattle, Washington, USA
8. “Ara”, 15, of Sitio Plarending, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental
9. “Pat”, 17, of Sitio Buklog, Barangay Lalong, Calatrava, Negros Occidental
Ten members (10) of the New People’s Army:
1. Roger Fabillar from Toboso, Negros Occidental
2. Sonny Boy Caramihan, 28, from Barangay Bagonbon, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental
3. Rene Villarin Sr., 57, Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava, Negros Occidental
4. Pedro Bonghanoy, medical officer, Barangay Libertad, Escalante City, Negros Occidental
5. Arnel Javoc, 32, from Barangay Lalong, Calatrava, Negros Occidental
6. Joros Caramihan y Ramos, 18, from Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental
7. Maria Clarita Blanco from Cebu Province
8. Genevieve Balora from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
9. Labskie Purisimia Enustacion, 33, of Sitio Tinibawan, Barangay Bug-ang, Toboso, Negros Occidental
10. Jocel Gimang, 18, of Sitio Bautista, Barangay Malasibog, Escalante City, Negros Occidental
Alleged Perpetrator(s): Elements of the 79th Infantry Battalion (Philippine Army), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
Account of the Incident:
On April 19, 2026, AFP’s social media pages reported the killing of nineteen (19) individuals in an alleged encounter in Barangay Salamanca, municipality of Toboso, province of Negros Occidental. Military authorities further claimed that the killings were the result of a “series of armed encounters” with members of the New People’s Army (NPA), instantly declaring that the 19 persons killed were armed combatants.
However, initial reports and information gathered in the community by human rights workers, church workers, as well as the testimonies of relatives and community members dispute this assertion. One of the relatives of one of the victims, Roel Sabillo, refuted the military’s claim, strongly stating that he was a farmer who worked in his uncle’s business in the said communities.
Calls for justice flooded social media on the days following the report of the incident. Altermidya expressed mourning on the killing of community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, who they said was “doing community work and immersion reporting on the effects of renewable energy projects – including solar farm expansion and windmill projects – on vulnerable farmer communities”.
Human rights organizations, groups of peasant and land rights advocates, youth organizations, including the UP Diliman University Student Council and the UP Diliman Committee on the Protection of Academic Freedom and Human Rights issued statements and asserted that Alyssa Alano, Errol Wendel, and Maureen Santuyo, were civilians who were organizing among peasants and conducting research into the issues of farmers in Negros Occidental.
In a media report, the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command in Negros stated that the military had an encounter only with “a small squad of revolutionary fighters,” and confirmed that the rest of those killed were civilians.
The military, through the Visayas Command of the AFP, rejected this report, and called as “disinformation” the victims’ families cry of a massacre, saying that the Negros 19 killings were the result of a “lawful, intelligence-driven operation,” and not an attack on civilians.
On April 24, the NTF-ELCAC issued a statement that two Filipino-Americans, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem, were among those killed. On April 27, another statement of the NTF-ELCAC confirmed that two (2) minors were among the 19 victims killed.
On April 27, the Communist Party of the Philippines issued a statement where it disclosed that a video drone footage showed that one of the victims, Roger Fabillar, was still alive and possibly rendered hors de combat during the incident, who later turned out as one of the casualties. The video, which circulated that day on social media, is now taken down.
Residents reported heavy military presence before, during, and after the incident, with troops restricting movement in the area and limiting access to independent investigators and media. Families of the victims faced difficulty in immediately retrieving the bodies of their loved ones, further compounding their distress.
KARAPATAN strongly condemned the focused military operations in Negros, which resulted in the forced evacuation of more than 653 residents from 168 households in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Families, community members, and human rights defenders, strongly assert that the 19 individuals are victims of what they describe as a massacre.
Violations of Rights:
1. Right to Life. The killing of nineteen (19) individuals raises serious concerns of arbitrary deprivation of life, with stress that several victims were civilians and not directly participating in hostilities.
2. Principle of Distinction (IHL). The failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants by the military, hastily and maliciously claiming that all victims were “armed combatants” without verification of identity or status. The testimonies of the victims’ families that there are civilians support this claim.
3. Protection of persons hors de combat. The report that Roger Fabillar was alive and possibly rendered hors de combat prior to being killed, and the killing of persons no longer able to fight constitutes a grave breach of IHL.
4. Prohibition of Indiscriminate Attacks. Allegations of indiscriminate firing, and the use of force that failed to target only lawful military objectives, amid the presence of civilians, including minors and human rights defenders, indicates possible indiscriminate attack.
5. Principle of Proportionality. The sheer number of casualties raises serious concerns on whether force used was excessive relative to any military objective, and the possible use of disproportionate force in the conduct of operations.
6. Protection of Children in Armed Conflict. The confirmed killing of two (2) minors (ages 15 and 17) violates special protections afforded to children under: International Humanitarian Law and Convention on the Rights of the Child.
7. Right to Truth and Due Process. The failure to identify all victims and their immediate labeling as all “combatants,” instead of the presumption of their civilian status, renders the need to conduct a transparent and impartial investigation. Due process and accountability.
8. Protection from Harassment and Intimidation. Reports of heavy military presence, restricted movement, limited access for independent investigators and media, and possible intimidation of witnesses and affected communities.
9. Prohibition of Forced Evacuation and Protection Against Arbitrary Displacement. The forced evacuation of more than 653 residents from 168 households in Brgy. Salamanca and Brgy. San Jose constitutes possible arbitrary displacement of civilians.
Such displacement, when carried out without ensuring safety, necessity, and humanitarian protections, violates International Humanitarian Law protections for civilian populations, and the prohibition against collective punishment and coercive displacement. The incident also raises concerns of militarization of civilian communities, resulting in fear, disruption of livelihoods, and exposure to further harm.
10. Possible War Crimes. The combination of the following acts may constitute war crimes under International Humanitarian Law: killing of civilians, killing of persons hors de combat, indiscriminate attacks, and disproportionate use of force.
Context/Background:
This incident occurred in the context of intensified counterinsurgency operations in Negros Island, a region long marked by land conflicts, militarization, and widespread repression of farmers, activists, human rights defenders, and the general population. Peasant communities have repeatedly reported harassment, surveillance, and threats from State security forces, often being accused – without due process – of supporting the NPA.
On November 22, 2018, the Duterte administration issued Memorandum Order No. 32 (MO 32) which ordered the deployment of additional police and military troops to Negros, along with Samar and Bicol, to suppress what they called “lawless violence.” Since then, up to the present Marcos Jr. administration, grave human rights violations intensified in the island. KARAPATAN documented at least 52 peasants who have been victims of extrajudicial killings in Negros under Marcos Jr., from July 2022 to December 2025. At least 13 of them were killed in massacres.
According to IBON Foundation, Negros remains as the country’s sugar capital, that produces a significant share of the country’s national sugar output. However, it is also one of the country’s poorest regions, with widespread poverty and persistently low wages among agricultural workers. Large plantations are concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving many farmers landless or dependent on seasonal farm work.
RJ Ledesma, together with other members of alternative media and land rights advocates, had extensive and in-depth research on the situation of many farmers’ communities in Negros. In a 2024 article published in Altermidya, Ledesma reported on the protests of farmers and indigenous communities against a large-scale palm oil project linked to the Consunji group, alleging deceptive practices, land grabbing, environmental destruction, and the displacement of around 1,000 families from ancestral and cultivated lands. In 2025, Ledesma was one of the key researches and writers of “We were there before the bulldozers: A Primer on the Militarized “Development” in Candoni’s Palm Oil Expansion,” published by Hakson Inc., a grassroots environmental organization in Negros Island.
The deep-seated injustice, poverty, and inequality, continues to drive social unrest in the Negros region. With this, peasant communities continue to assert their right to land, right to life, right to protest, and even the right to dissent.
Recommended Action:
Send letters and e-mails calling for:
1. The immediate, thorough, and independent investigation into the killing of the nineteen (19) individuals in Toboso, Negros Occidental by representatives from human rights organizations, church institutions, and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR);
2. The prosecution and accountability of all perpetrators, including commanding officers and officials responsible for the operation;
3. The immediate release of all information related to the operation, including post-operation reports and forensic evidence;
4. Indemnification to the families of the victims;
5. The immediate pull-out of military troops from civilian communities in Negros Occidental and the rest of the rural and indigenous communities in the Philippines;
6. An end to the “red-tagging” and “terror-tagging” of farmers, activists, human rights defenders as "terrorists" and as “enemies of the state;”
7. The cessation of the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency programs, called the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development, that results in widespread human rights violations;The abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as the main implementing agency of the NAP-UPD; and
8. The Philippine Government to uphold its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, and other international human rights and humanitarian law instruments, and to hold accountable the violations of such laws and instruments.
You may send your communications to:
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
President of the Republic of the Philippines
Malacañang Palace
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila, Philippines
Gilbert Teodoro
Secretary
Department of National Defense
Camp Emilio Aguinaldo
Quezon City, Philippines
Romeo Brawner Jr.
Chief of Staff
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Camp Emilio Aguinaldo
Quezon City, Philippines
Fredderick Vida
Secretary
Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila, Philippines
Richard Palpal-latoc
Chairperson
Commission on Human Rights
UP Complex, Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Please send us a copy of your email/mail to the above-named government officials to our address below.
URGENT ACTION Prepared by:
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PHILIPPINES
Telephone: (+632) 7090-8183
Email: publi...@karapatan.org
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
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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.