“The root of decades-long suffering on the island of Negros is the exploitation of sugar workers by powerful haciendas, heightened by counter-insurgency military operations that seek to suppress dissent and organization through manifold killings and human rights violations throughout history."

MANILA – The University of the Philippines mourns the death of two of its students who were killed in a military operation in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental.

Political Science student Alyssa Alano and Maureen Kiel Santuyo, a student at the UP Open University, were among the 19 killed last April 19. Alano is currently the University Student Council (USC) councilor for education and research and also served as the chairperson of the League of Filipino Students UP Diliman.

In a statement, the UP Diliman Committee on the Protection of Academic Freedom and Human Rights said, “[W]e cannot ever rejoice in the ‘triumph’ of a state that maintains the dehumanization of the poorest Filipinos and then snuffs out our brightest lights—supposedly to protect us.”

“The root of decades-long suffering on the island of Negros is the exploitation of sugar workers by powerful haciendas, heightened by counter-insurgency military operations that seek to suppress dissent and organization through manifold killings and human rights violations throughout history,” it added.

Farmers from Negros Occidental have faced several challenges in the past decade. In addition to pest infestations and environmental destruction, they have contended with conflicts involving land ownership, land-use conversion and human rights violations. Given these longstanding concerns, the region has become a regular location for student exposure programs, research, and community engagement. Alano and Santuyo were in Toboso for these reasons.

Read: Negros farmers demand an end to conversion of agricultural lands

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), however, claimed that the 19 individuals killed in Toboso were members of the New People’s Army. Following this, Vice President Sara Duterte commended the 79th Infantry Battalion for what she described as a “successful combat operation.”

In its statement, UP appealed to the public to withhold judgment regarding the presence of UP students in underserved communities. They emphasized, “No UP student is limited to lessons learned within the classrooms.”

UP said that while initial reports indicate that both Alano and Santuyo were engaged in community activities for their respective organizations and not university-sanctioned programs, they “stand by the right of all students to lawfully and peacefully exercise their constitutionally protected freedoms, especially in furtherance of raising their social consciousness.”

The UP Department of Political Science also said they grieve the loss of their student, which they said, is not the first. “There were others like her who have walked our corridors, sat in our classes, stood up against oppression, and suffered the ferocity of state violence and injustice… We demand that all perpetrators be held fully accountable to the fullest extent of the law should violations of human rights and the rule of law be established.”

UP Student Regent Ron Dexter Clemente called for justice for Alano and Santuyo. He asked that the perpetrators from the military take responsibility, respect human rights, and ensure the safety of the people, especially in areas where the military is encamped.

“It is our responsibility to confront their reality, dismantle their mechanism, and bring the perpetrators to justice… We call on the Philippine government to account for the death of Alyssa and the other Toboso killings,” UP said. (AMU, RVO)

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