A Philippine human rights fact-finding mission challenged the military’s account of the killing of 19 people in Negros Occidental province, saying nine civilians were among the dead and citing evidence of possible violations of international humanitarian law.
The National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission released its findings during a press briefing Aug. 19 in Quezon City as the Philippines observed International Humanitarian Law Month.
The report followed a May 13-14 investigation into the April 19 military operation in Salamanca village, Toboso town.
The mission said 10 of those killed were identified as members of the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA), while nine were civilians who did not take part in the fighting. It said soldiers failed to distinguish between civilians and combatants and fired at people retreating through an exposed fishpond.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights group Karapatan, said the Toboso killings were the gravest mass-casualty case involving alleged IHL violations that the group had documented in recent years.
“This is the single, the biggest single mass casualty incident involving international humanitarian law violations that we have documented and looked into in recent years,” Palabay said. “This is the worst.”
Palabay said the case required continuing scrutiny and a sustained push for justice. She also cited the prohibition against a “no quarters given” policy, saying it is illegal under Republic Act 9851 and the Geneva Conventions.
“Those who have been incapacitated, whether combatant or civilian, should be kept alive,” Palabay said. “In fact, they should be given medical aid if injured. They should definitely not be showered with bullets.”
The Philippine Army had reported a “series of clashes” involving troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion and said all 19 fatalities were armed NPA members. Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, had described those killed as “armed combatants.”
The fact-finding mission said witness testimony, physical evidence, and preliminary autopsy findings cast doubt on the military’s account.
According to the report, an initial clash occurred between about 3 and 4 a.m. in Sitio Sinugmawan before alleged NPA members and civilians retreated toward a fishpond in nearby Sitio Plarinding. Soldiers entered Plarinding at about 6 to 7 a.m., and a second shooting incident occurred at about 9 a.m.
Residents said those fleeing had to cross waist-deep muddy water in an exposed area with little or no cover. Investigators said soldiers occupied elevated and ground-level positions around the fishpond.
The report said the circumstances left the armed NPA members unable to effectively fight back and rendered them hors de combat, or incapable of continuing to participate in hostilities.
The mission accused soldiers of failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants and of attacking fighters who were no longer in a position to fight.
It described the killings as a “massacre” and said community accounts and physical evidence indicated that the incident “was not a legitimate military operation.”
The report cited the death of NPA commander Roger Fabillar as one case raising questions over the Army’s account. The mission said drone footage taken before his death showed Fabillar alive, unarmed and submerged in the fishpond.
It said Fabillar appeared to have been hors de combat before the military later reported that he had been “killed in an encounter.” The mission said the circumstances indicated that he may have been extrajudicially executed rather than killed in combat.
Preliminary autopsy findings also raised questions over how several victims died.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun examined the remains of Alyssa Alano, Maureen Santuyo, Lyle Prijoles, Kai Sorem and a male cadaver initially identified as Errol Wendel.
Three of the five bodies had multiple fatal gunshot wounds, according to the report. Fortun also noted multiple gunshot wounds from behind, which the mission said raised questions about the Army’s account of an hours-long armed encounter.
The report said Alano suffered a gunshot wound to the leg that caused fatal bleeding. It said she did not sustain an immediately fatal wound but died without receiving medical treatment.
Families of those identified by the mission as civilians called for answers over the killings.
Sol Santuyo, mother of Maureen, said helping other people “is not a crime” but “an act of compassion.”
“They were helping people. Why were they killed? We need answers to these questions. They took the lives of our children,” Santuyo said.
Four months after the killings, she said the families were still waiting for satisfactory answers and questioned whether red-tagging was sufficient reason “for them to be brutally killed.”
Elisa Chen, mother of Errol Wendel, said the failure to return her son’s remains compounded the pain of his death.
“What they did was brutal,” Chen said. “What was even more brutal was that they did not give us his body. It was extremely painful.”
The mission documented irregularities in the handling and identification of the remains. Fortun found that a cadaver released as Wendel did not match his physical description.
Investigators later learned that Wendel’s remains had apparently been released to the mother of another person killed in the operation.
The report also linked the events to a continuing land dispute in Sitio Sinugmawan, where farmers formed the Hacienda Bedonia Farmers and Farmworkers Association in November 2025 after learning they could qualify as agrarian reform beneficiaries of an 18-hectare property their families had cultivated since the 1970s.
The farmers petitioned the Department of Agrarian Reform for coverage of the property and began cultivating a four-hectare portion through a bungkalan, or collective farming action, in February.
Members of the association said they suspected that allegations of an NPA takeover of the property shortly before the April 19 operation may have contributed to events leading to the killings. The report did not establish a direct causal link.
Shiela Alano, Alyssa’s mother, questioned the labeling of activists and people documenting conditions in marginalized communities.
“How can we trust the AFP when they can so blatantly get away with killing anyone just by labeling them as NPA?” she said.
Alano said activists, journalists and researchers went to communities such as those in Negros to understand the conditions of farmers who work for low pay while remaining without land of their own.
“Alyssa and the others would not have been in Negros if people there had decent livelihoods,” she said. “They would not have been in Negros if the government gave the poor what they are entitled to after being deprived by a rotten system.”
The mission also documented the impact of the military operation on residents of Barangay Salamanca. Residents said soldiers searched at least 24 houses and questioned civilians about alleged NPA members, while some reported being held at gunpoint.
About 800 residents fled their homes between April 19 and 22. Residents said military operations prevented them from reaching the river and fishponds, disrupting sources of food and livelihood.
Children who joined a psychosocial activity after the operation described fear and anxiety from the gunfire, with some saying they hid under their beds.
The May 13-14 mission was organized by Manindigan Negros, Defend Negros and Karapatan and involved 117 participants from local, national and international organizations.
Investigators interviewed about 30 residents, inspected the reported encounter sites, and gathered physical evidence.
The mission called for criminal and administrative charges, where warranted, against military personnel involved in the operation and their immediate superiors.
It also sought access for families and their lawyers to the Army’s mission order, drone footage, after-operation reports, and other records, as well as further independent forensic examinations and autopsies.
The report called for humanitarian and psychosocial assistance for affected communities and the withdrawal of the 79th Infantry Battalion and other military forces from Toboso while investigations continue.
