The undersigned community members and organizations raise grave concern around the massacre carried out by the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) on April 19, 2026, in the community of Toboso, Negros Occidental which left 19 dead, among them 9 civilians including 2 minors, and displaced over 650 residents. Among the 19 killed were two Filipino-Americans– Lyle Prijoles (aged 40), and Kai Sorem (aged 26).

Ever since the AFP first reported on the incident, there have been inconsistencies in their story, whether the changing number of weapons supposedly recovered, or the claims of a 12 hour firefight that left 19 dead and yet only one government soldier injured. Moreover, drone footage that was posted online and later removed appears to show a New People’s Army member still alive and rendered ‘hors de combat’ before he was killed. Attempts to conduct independent fact finding missions to either verify or contradict the military’s story have thus far been barred from accessing the area where the attack took place. However, given the sheer number of casualties, possible killing of “hors de combat,’ reports of indiscriminate aerial strafing, as well as the targeting of civilians and children point to possible violations of International Humanitarian Law otherwise known as war crimes.

These inconsistencies have prompted responses from various Philippine legislators who lodged a resolution calling for immediate investigations. The Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines has begun a probe into the incident while the ASEAN Parliamentarians on Human Rights have condemned the attack and have pointed out the pattern of state repression as deeply concerning especially for Philippines which currently chairs the ASEAN.

This is not the first time Philippine state forces have unleashed deadly violence on the people of Negros. Violence targeting poor farmers in Negros has become routine since the passage of Memorandum Order No. 32 under former president Rodrigo Duterte. Previous massacres include the killing of 9 sugarcane workers in 2018 known as the Sagay 9, the killing of 14 farmer and community leaders in 2019 known as the Negros 14, and the killing of the Fausto family in 2023. Since 2022, 52 of the 135 extrajudicial killings carried out under Marcos Jr occured in Negros.

This pattern of violence is all the more concerning given ongoing foreign military financing which the United States supplies the Philippines. Between 2015 and 2022 the Philippines received over $1.1 billion in military aid from the US. In 2024, the US approved $500 million in military assistance to the Philippines, and in 2025, Congress approved the allocation of $2.5 billion in military aid to the country over the next 5 years. Additionally, the US regularly conducts joint training with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including the annual Balikatan exercises which started on the same day as the Toboso massacre.

Given the scale of the Toboso massacre, the deaths of two Filipino-Americans among other civilians at the hands of the AFP, as well as the close relationship between the US and the Philippines, we, the undersigned urgently request that the State Department, as well as the US Embassy in Manila use all possible channels to ensure:

1) An immediate and independent investigation into the AFP’s massacre on April 19th-20th in Negros Occidental, Philippines without interference from the AFP and its connected agencies

2) An inquiry into whether US security assistance and weaponry was used in the military operations on April 19th as well as the aerial bombings which took place in Mindoro on January 1