ICHRP leader and Fact Finding Mission delegate barred entry at the Ninoy Aquino airport in Metro Manila
Press Release
May 16, 2026
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) today strongly supported the results of the Fact Finding Mission in Toboso, Negros Occidental on the massacre by the Philippine Army on April 19. ICHRP is deeply disturbed by the findings of the mission amid new information about the massacred individuals. The mission consisted of more than a hundred delegates from various local and international organizations.
“The Fact Finding Mission confirmed what human rights groups have long been saying–six of the nineteen individuals killed–including student leader Alyssa Alano, peasant organizers Maureen Santuyo and Errol Wendel, journalist RJ Ledesma, Filipino-American activist Kai Sorem, and ICHRP member Lyle Prijoles were unarmed civilians, as confirmed by witness testimonies in the communities. This categorically disproves the 79th Infantry Battalion’s claim that all of them were armed combatants,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.
“We also condemn in the strongest terms the blacklisting and deportation last May 12 of our Global Council member Reverend Sadie Stone, who was in the Philippines to participate in the Fact Finding Mission in Negros. She was barred from entry in the airport for supposedly participating in “political activities” in 2016. Reverend Stone is the third ICHRP member in the past two years to be blacklisted by the Marcos Jr. government, following Gordon Mutch in 2025 and Copeland Downs in 2024,” added Murphy.
Ariel Casilao of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) confirmed that Errol Wendel and Maureen Santuyo were both deployed to Negros to conduct research and help farmers and farm workers in Barangay Salamanca in Toboso who are engaged in an ongoing land dispute, a case already raised to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Attorney Maria Sol Taule of Karapatan said there was already intense militarization in Toboso even before April 19. Residents reported seeing several drones hovering over their community days before the massacre, while military personnel visited at least 18 houses on April 19 to look for the NPA’s whereabouts. A resident, together with a 14-year-old boy and a mother who were out to harvest shellfish, was also accosted, illegally detained, and interrogated by the military about the presence of the NPA in the area.
ICHRP Britain member Cieran McGowan who was part of the mission said he was astonished at how rich landlords in Negros benefit from the hard work of peasants, while the latter suffer from complete slavery, and are killed when they struggle for land.
“Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem went to Negros to do exactly what we came here for–learn about the conditions of the Filipino people. Why were they murdered when they were just there to learn?” said McGowan.
“We salute the delegation’s determination to get the truth about this terrible massacre and call on the international community to study their findings. We want governments to review their political and military relations with the Marcos Jr. government based on this information,” continued Murphy.
“How can Marcos Jr. claim to be a diplomat of peace and respect international humanitarian law when the international community is witnessing the bloodshed and innumerable war crimes committed by his regime?” Murphy asked.
ICHRP US leader, Lyle Prijoles, was one of those killed at Toboso, and so the organization is sharing with Filipino organizations and families the pain of the callous and relentless repression suffered by farmers, workers and Indigenous Peoples communities in the Philippines as they struggle to uplift incomes and political rights in the poverty-stricken country.
“The evidence found belies the narrative created by the military, who had complete control of the site from April 19 to 21. Negros was already the massacre capital of the Philippines and this case only underlines the reality that violations of International Humanitarian Law and human rights are rampant in the Philippines today,” concluded Murphy.
Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, +61418312301, chairperson@ichrp.net
ICHRP calls on all members and allies to widely share the findings of the fact-finding mission. The press conference of the fact-finding mission was held in-person before several Philippine news outlets broadcast live online on Facebook. This article will be updated with a link if a recording of the press conference becomes available.
