A broadening range of sectors and groups continues and amplifies their call to investigate and attain justice for the 19 people massacred by the 79th IB in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19. In various parts of the country and even overseas, they launched protests, candle‑lighting actions, collective prayers, and other activities.

A protest at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on April 24 stood out as a demand to hold accountable the Marcos regime, its armed forces, and US imperialism for instigating a war of suppression in the name of counterinsurgency against the Filipino people. Students from the University of the Philippines‑Diliman widely joined a series of actions on campus in Quezon City. Actions also took place in the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and other countries.

Collectively called the Toboso 19, the massacre victims were presented by the 79th IB as armed Red fighters of the New People’s Army (BHB)‑Northern Negros (Roselyn Jean Pelle Command) who died in a brief encounter. Human rights groups belied this and reported that civilians and non‑combatants were among the 19.

According to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), only 10 of the 19 killed were members of the NPA squad that fought the 79th IB soldiers. They were identified as:

1. Roger Fabillar (Ka Tapang), NPA‑Northern Negros commander
2. Maria Clarita Branzuel Blanco (Ka Sanim/Pat), political instructor
3. Rene Villarin Sr., 57, of Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava, squad leader
4. Genevieve Balora (Ka Raia), from Bacolod City, district Party cadre
5. Pedro Bonghanoy, medical officer, Barangay Libertad, Escalante City
6. Sonny Boy Caramihan, 28, from Barangay Bagonbon, San Carlos City
7. Arnel Javoc, 32, from Barangay Lalong, Calatrava
8. Joros Caramihan, 18, from Don Salvador Benedicto
9. Labskie Purisimia Enustacion, 33, of Sitio Tinibawan, Barangay Bug‑ang, Toboso
10. Jocel Gimang, 18, of Sitio Bautista, Barangay Malasibog, Escalante City

Party chief information officer Marco Valbuena also said that even if 10 were armed, the possibility that the 79th IB violated their rights under the laws of war and international humanitarian law remains. He said videos from AFP drone cameras showed Fabillar still alive and apparently no longer in a position to fight. “This indicates that he was summarily killed by the fascists, instead of being taken in as prisoner of war,” he said.

The other nine, all civilians, were:

1. Roel Sabillo, 19, peasant resident of Barangay Tabun‑ac, Toboso
2. R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30, community journalist from Bacolod City
3. Alyssa Alano, UP Diliman University Student Council member
4. Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA‑Youth) member
5. Errol Wendel, 24, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (Agricultural Workers’ Union) member
6. Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, from San Francisco, California, USA
7. Kai Sorem, 26, member of Anakbayan from Seattle, Washington, USA
8. a 17‑year‑old from Sitio Buklog, Barangay Lalong, Calatrava
9. a 15‑year‑old resident of Sitio Plarending, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso

The organizations’ statement said Ledesma, Alano, Santuyo, Errol Wendel, Prijoles, and Sorem, were in Toboso to conduct research and show solidarity with peasants being driven out by solar farm and windmill projects in the province. The groups said their decision to go to the militarized communities of Negros Occidental was a conscious step to stand with impoverished peasants in the area. The other three were residents of the barangays and nearby communities.

Karapatan said the massacre should be considered a war crime for which the Marcos regime, the AFP, and the National Task Force‑Elcac must answer. “Whether they are civilians or combatants, the sheer number of those killed triggers significant questions and conclusions on the conduct of the AFP operations,” the group’s secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

She added that the military’s use of excessive and disproportionate force, its apparent failure to take steps to avoid or minimize deaths, the one‑day media blackout, and the varying reports on the incident site and the weapons recovered must be questioned. Palabay said the possibility that the military carried out a massacre, a war crime, including in the context of an armed clash, must be investigated.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) also blasted Department of National Defense Sec. Gilberto Teodoro, Jr’s statement that justified the massacre with the simple presence of the civilians in the area. The NUPL said Teodoro was not just repeating the claims of the 79th IB and the AFP, but openly declaring that the poor and those who stand with them have no legitimate place in communities that suffer violence every day.

The NUPL repeatedly threw legal questions at Teodoro and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. “Why does the military’s response to civilian scrutiny follow a now-familiar script: stage the scene, control the narrative, then blame the dead for being where they were found?” it said.

The group added that this was not a surprise, since the AFP has a documented record of violating international humanitarian law against civilians, hors de combat, and those it killed. “We call for accountability — not just for those who pulled the trigger, but for those who ordered, tolerated, and concealed the killings,” the NUPL said.

San Carlos City Bishop and Caritas Philippines President Most Rev. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D. also joined the call for justice and an independent investigation. He said the Toboso incident left not only lost lives, but also questions that remain unresolved. “Who were the victims? What truly transpired? Were all those killed part of an armed encounter—or were some caught in circumstances that demand deeper scrutiny?” he said.

The bishop added that the people are being called to stand where Christ stood—beside the wounded, the grieving, and those seeking the truth. He also said persistently acting for peace is important, clarifying that “peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice, and justice comes begins with the truth.”

Several parties and lawmakers have also called for an independent investigation into the Toboso massacre. Makabayan Bloc Representatives filed a resolution in the House of Representatives on April 27 to investigate the incident. ML Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima also called for an investigation.

The Commission on Human Rights has also announced that it will conduct its own investigation into the incident. The agency launched similar investigations in the past into AFP killings and massacres of civilians in Negros, but it has still failed to produce any meaningful result.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called on the Filipino people to unite and defeat Marcos’s tyranny and fight for justice. “The people’s clamor for justice is more powerful, and we will not waver in the call for accountability,” Bayan said.