A fact-finding mission has flagged serious violations of the international humanitarian and human rights laws in the killing of the ‘Toboso 19′ in Negros Occidental, saying the military could clearly see who was armed and who was not even as residents confirmed that nine of the fatalities in the alleged encounter on April 19 were civilians, not communist combatants.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers lawyer Julianne Agpalo said ‘the military were already in an advantageous position,’ adding that some of them were on top of the hill overlooking the fishpond where the victims were, while another group of soldiers was near the fishpond.
The 44-page report of the National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission (NFFSM) said the soldiers from the 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) had a clear view of the scene and could distinguish between those who were armed and firing back, and those who were unarmed. Instead, they fired indiscriminately, resulting in the deaths of nine civilians, it added.
‘In terms of the physical inspection of the fishpond area, it was a clear, open space. There was nowhere to hide and no cover for anyone being pursued by the military,’ Agpalo said.
Matty Miguel, a spokesperson for Defend Negros, a group advocating for human rights and land reform, told the Inquirer, ‘It can also be seen that, from the military’s standpoint, they should have been able to distinguish who were civilians and who were not, given that they were already in a vantage point.’
Vantage point
Agpalo said that residents in Taboso town who were interviewed by the fact-finding mission ‘essentially proved what the families [of the victims] have been saying-that nine of the 19 were civilians’ who were there to learn about farming.
In May, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. maintained that the Taboso 19 were all members of the New People’s Army (NPA). The NPA, on the other hand, said that while some of those killed were rebels, others were civilians and human rights advocates.
The mission report identified some of the dead civilians as RJ Nichole Ledesma, 30, a community journalist from Bacolod City; Alyssa Alano, 22, a University of the Philippines Diliman Student Council leader; Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, a member of the National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates; and Errol Wendel, 24, a member of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura.
Also killed were Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines from San Francisco, California; and Kai Sorem, 26, from Seattle, Washington.
Miguel said that Santuyo and Wendel, whose body has yet to be returned to his family, worked as peasant organizers. They were the primary individuals helping the farmers with their land-related concerns in Hacienda Bedonia.
Miguel, who personally knew Santuyo, said she was always willing to go where she was needed most, particularly to support farmers and farm workers in marginalized communities in Negros.
‘Knowing that someone so close to you willingly went there to understand the situation on the ground, only to be killed by state forces, is heartbreaking and infuriating,’ she told the Inquirer.
Residents interviewed
The NFFSM, which was conducted in May, was composed of more than 100 participants from national, local and international organizations.
They interviewed residents and witnesses, visited the sites of the killings, examined physical evidence and documented the effects of military operations on civilian communities.
‘The mission’s findings challenge the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other state agencies like the notorious NTF-Elcac [National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict] of their portrayal of the incident as a legitimate series of armed encounters,’ said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, at a press conference.
The NFFSM report also cited alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, including the killing of individuals who may have been rendered hors de combat and the treatment of civilians during the military operation.
Hors de combat refers to combatants who are unable to fight because they are wounded, sick, captured or have surrendered.
The mission documented searches of at least 24 houses, the detention and interrogation of civilians at gunpoint, and the displacement of around 800 residents whose access to food and livelihood was disrupted.
‘Option not to kill’
‘Alyssa Alano, was shot in the knee. She did not sustain a fatal wound but died due to the lack of medical treatment. She bled to death. Alyssa’s case indicates that the soldiers had the option not to kill the victims,’ it said in its report.
The report also noted that the bodies of the victims brought to the funeral home showed severe burns, swelling and decomposition caused by neglect and prolonged exposure to extreme heat, with some of the bodies reportedly recovered from fishponds.
‘This reflects a failure in the care and lawful handling of human remains, revealing unprofessional management by the military and police forces,’ it said.
Karapatan, meanwhile, called for the immediate and proper identification of Wendel’s body so that it could be returned to his family.
‘Every day, we pray that we can bring Errol home. Four months have passed, and we still don’t have our son. We just want to bring him home and give him the proper burial he deserves,’ said his mother, Elizabeth Chen.
Among the mission’s recommendations were the filing of criminal and administrative charges against military personnel involved in the killings and their superiors; full access for the families and legal representatives of the victims to records of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and 79th IB, including mission orders, drone footage and after-operation reports.
Moreover, Karapatan called for the immediate withdrawal of the 79th IB from communities in Negros to facilitate investigations.