Justice for the Victims of the Toboso Massacre!
ILPS-US strongly condemns the massacre of 19 Filipinos, including Filipino-American, Lyle Prijoles by the Philippine government on Negros Island on April 19th and 20th.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) opened fire on peasant communities, conducting indiscriminate strafing for over 12 hours - displacing more than 653 residents from their homes in a blatant act of terror. Also among those killed were community leaders, activists, and journalists including RJ Ledesma, Alyssa Alano, Maureen Santuyo, Errol Wendel, Lyle Prijoles, and others who were integrating with the community to better understand the conditions of the most exploited and oppressed.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has been running rampant across the entire archipelago, surveilling, harassing, targeting, and killing people, primarily poor farmers, in order to protect the interests of foreign corporations and the ruling local elite who profit off the blood sweat and tears of the people. Negros is not new to massacres and displacement, but has been a site of struggle as sugarcane farmers and peasants fight for their land despite these attacks.
We see through the lies of the AFP as they try to delegitimize the cause of the people by labeling them as "terrorists," attempting to deny the roots of the armed conflict. They are desperate to try to squash the revolutionary movement that has successfully resisted their oppressors and defended the interests of the masses for over five decades.
The capacity of the AFP to conduct and sustain these operations comes from the direct support of the US. Right now, the US is conducting massive joint Balikatan military exercises with the AFP in its efforts to strengthen joint operability, train the PH military in tactics like counterinsurgency, and prepare for further US aggression against China.
The US is funding the fascist Marcos government to the tune of over $500 million every year in military aid in order to clear the way for US interests in the Philippines and the entire Asia Pacific, a pattern we've seen in many other places around the world, from El Salvador to "Israel." This will only intensify when Marcos secures his upcoming bid for the UN security council seat in June, bringing to the world’s people his strategy of “security” through military terror.
ILPS-US extends its deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those who were lost.
We uplift the demands of BAYAN USA and ICHRP US for an immediate and independent investigation and that the families of the victims be given full access to their loved ones' remains without any threat, interrogation, harm, or intimidation.
We demand an end to the US funding and support to the Marcos Jr. regime in the Philippines and reject President Marcos' bid for a seat on the UN Security Council this June.
We call for the people to stand with the Filipino people in their just and enduring struggle for genuine liberation!