The National Democratic Front-Negros welcomes with highest regards the convening of an independent fact-finding mission tasked with unearthing the truth behind the brutal Toboso 19 massacre. This is a vital step toward dismantling the culture of impunity that shields state forces from the consequences of their war crimes.

The facts uncovered on the ground stand in stark contrast to the state’s manufactured narrative. Military propaganda cannot erase the collective memory of the masses. The evidence clearly shows that the 9 individuals were entirely unarmed; they did not enter the community to wage war, but to document the harsh, lived realities of struggling rural communities.

The absolute proof of their civilian status lies in the testimonies of the local residents themselves. Farmers and local families have bravely come forward, recounting how Errol, Mau, Kai, Lyle, Alyssa, and RJ sat with them in their humble homes, shared their modest meals, and carefully interviewed them about their daily struggles as farmers and fisherfolks in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. They talked about landlessness, low wages, and the high cost of production.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) must be held strictly accountable for this flagrant disregard for human life. By executing civilians and hors de combat individuals, the AFP directly violated the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). By labeling journalists, activists, and peasant advocates as combatants to cover up a massacre, the AFP is guilty of war crimes.

We call on international bodies to look past the sanitized press releases of the fascist military under the command of the US-Marcos II regime and see the forensic reality of what happened in Toboso.

While we demand justice for the fallen, we recognize that tragedies like the Toboso 19 do not happen in a vacuum. They are the symptoms of a deeply rotten system. Therefore, we reiterate our call for the immediate resumption of formal peace negotiations to finally address the root causes of the armed conflict.

Achieving a just peace requires implementing genuine agrarian reform to finally give land to the landless peasants who actually till the soil. It demands pursuing national industrialization to build a self-reliant economy that provides decent jobs so the Filipino do not have to live in poverty. Ultimately, the state must commit to comprehensive social and economic reforms that eradicate the deep-seated systemic inequality.

Let the truth be told, let the perpetrators be punished, and let us continue the struggle for a just and lasting peace.

Justice for the Toboso 19!
Stop the attacks on civilians!
Resume the peace talks!

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