April 22, 2026
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the military operations conducted by the 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army in Brgy. Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental in Central Philippines, last April 19.
According to local reports, the successive military operations killed 19 individuals and forcibly displaced more than 653 residents from 168 households in peasant communities in Barangays Salamanca and San Jose.
The military claims that it was a military encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA). But the sheer number of casualties, who are alleged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to be NPA members, and the nature of the operations strongly point to possible widespread IHL violations.
Locals also refute the military’s claims. Roel Sobillo, a relative of one of the victims, asserts that Sobillo was only a farmer who worked under his uncle’s business in the area. Other victims include RJ Nichole Ledesma, a journalist and cultural worker, and Alyssa Alano, a student leader and peasant organizer. As of now, the surviving families and human rights groups are still verifying details of the incident and the identities of the victims.
Ledesma was a writer and editor of local alternative media outfit Paghimutad-Negros and the regional coordinator in Negros Island of Altermidya, a Filipino network of independent and progressive media outfits. Meanwhile, Alyssa Alano was a student leader at the University of the Philippines – Diliman and an incumbent councilor on its student council. Both were reported to have been conducting community work and immersion with communities in the area to research the conditions of the local peasants at the time of their killings.
ICHRP strongly supports the call to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into the killings and the forced evacuation of hundreds of families. Given the nature of the AFP’s military operations and their long track record of violating the rights of civilians and combatants alike, ICHRP is vigilant and will constantly monitor the situation for possible human rights and IHL violations. We call on the international community to amplify the calls for justice for all victims in Negros Occidental.
