San José, CA – On April 29, the League of Filipino Students (LFS) in SJSU held a vigil in front of the Victory Statue to honor the lives of the Toboso 19. The Toboso 19 were murdered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on April 23 in Barangays Salamanca, Toboso, and Negros Occidental. A total of 653 residents and 168 households were displaced from Barangays Salamanca and San Jose.
At the vigil, paper roses and candles were set up before the portraits in a beautiful display of solidarity with the martyrs. In a statement released before the vigil, LFS called for “justice for Lyle Prijoles and the victims of the Toboso massacre,” “accountability from the AFP and corrupt Philippine government” and “an end to the U.S.-backed violations of human rights in the Philippines.”
The statement continued, “We are deeply inspired by Ka Lyle’s courage and his genuine love for the toiling Filipino masses. He chose to go to Negros not as an outsider, but to listen, to learn from the people, and to help bring their lived experiences and struggles to light despite knowing the dangers of their militarized situation.”
Throughout the event, LFS students and community members spoke about Lyle Prijoles, one of the martyrs, who was part of LFS at San Francisco State University and was referred to as an exemplary comrade who shared his lessons and experience to organizers and youth alike. A colleague spoke about his love for Star Wars and his passion for worldbuilding and applying its principles to working conditions in the Philippines.
Best friend and fellow organizer Ash Santosh spoke on how he saw Lyle Prijoles like a mentor figure who helped him with every single step of the way and proved himself to be a very humble person in his life. “He tried to make things better and was so instrumental in pushing for people to believe in a brighter future. May we live like Lyle.”
Justher Guttierez gave a personal account of Errol Wendel, who organized alongside them. “Errol was a really funny person who kept a fun atmosphere. He showed me that as an organizer you don’t have to change what kind of person you are,” she recalled. “He was always inquisitive and curious to know the conditions of people’s struggles and lived alongside them. The government is so afraid of activists that it will kill the people they claim to serve, and we will not stop organizing.”
Trizha Aquino from Pilipino Laban sa Korapsyon (PILAK) shared their own experiences in immersion work as they worked alongside Errol Wendel.
“One of the pieces of advice he gave to me is to study the land struggles in different parts of the Philippines so that when you meet a new contact you can ask them where they’re from and connect it to the three big problems,” Aquino said. “When visiting some locals, I would see him off to the side asking some nanays how they were doing and if anything was bothering them. I could tell he was deeply loved and trusted by the masses. It only goes to show how important it is to immerse yourself with the masses.”
Kalyani Blackwell of LFS also spoke about systemic discrimination against the Negrense people in the Philippines, saying, “The farmworkers of Negros produce over half of the country’s sugar and contributes about 90 million to the national GDP annually. Despite that, farmworkers work on a contract system called ‘pakyawan’, where they work 12 hours of backbreaking work a day with no paid overtime.”
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