On April 19 and 20, the Philippine army’s 79th Infantry Battalion killed 19 people in Toboso, on Negros Island. The killings came as Washington and Manila launched Balikatan 2026, their largest war games yet.

The massacre took place in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental. Local reports cited by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines said the operation also forcibly displaced more than 653 residents from 168 households in farming communities in Barangays Salamanca and San Jose.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines called it a military encounter with the New People’s Army. But the Communist Party of the Philippines said the dead included 10 NPA fighters and nine unarmed or noncombatants: a journalist, student leaders, farmer advocates, overseas human rights workers, local residents and two children.

Among the nine were Roel Sabillo, 19; community journalist R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30; Alyssa Alano, a University of the Philippines Diliman student councilor; Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, of the National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth; Errol Wendel Chen, 24, of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura; Jemina Gumadlas, 15; Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines from San Francisco; Kai Sorem, 26, from Washington state; and Dexter Patajo, 17.

Ledesma was a writer and editor with the local alternative media outfit Paghimutad-Negros and the Negros Island regional coordinator of Altermidya. Alano was conducting community work and immersion with farming communities. Anakbayan USA said Sorem was a musician and activist who helped launch Anakbayan South Seattle and had returned to the Philippines to serve oppressed and exploited communities.

Journalists, students, farmer advocates and community workers are branded “terrorists” or “communist sympathizers” and then treated as military targets.

The AFP’s story shifted. According to the CPP statement, the military first claimed seven firearms were recovered, then raised the number to 20, then 24, to make it appear that all those killed were armed combatants. The CPP also said the AFP forcibly evacuated local residents, cordoned them off, and blocked reporters and independent investigators from speaking with them.

The Philippine Commission on Human Rights opened an investigation and said that “in case of doubt, persons shall be presumed civilians.” ICHRP called for an impartial investigation into the killings and forced evacuation.

BAYAN USA later reported that an autopsy led by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun found evidence contradicting the AFP’s “armed encounter” story, including mishandled bodies, evidence problems and gunshot wounds from the back.

This is what U.S. “security” means in the Philippines: repression at home and missiles aimed abroad.

Washington arms and trains the Philippine military. The same force kills farmers, students, journalists, workers and organizers at home while the Pentagon sets up the Philippines as a base for U.S. war plans against China.