YIFI National

19TH NATIONAL YOUTH CONVENTION
Statement on Toboso 19

We, the Youth of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (YIFI), raise deep concern over the attacks against the people of Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental and their visitors, who were wholeheartedly welcomed. The attack killed 19 people and displaced 653 residents.

We mourn the lives who were taken in cold blood through indiscriminate shootings and bombings conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), among them academics, researchers, journalists and minors.

In particular, we mourn the loss of RJ Nichole Ledesma, a journalist and a friend of the ecumenical movement on the island of Negros. He was deeply involved in the founding of the One Negros Ecumenical Council (ONEC). The three Negros-based dioceses – Negros Oriental and Siquijor, Bago and La Castellana – are members of ONEC who have witnessed the life-giving work of RJ in communities.

As members of a Christian, nationalist and progressive movement, we mourn the blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

We also denounce the role played by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). This is the same NTF-ELCAC that red-tagged and baselessly accused our Diocesan Youth Camps in 2023 as platforms for terrorist violence.

This further proves that the NTF-ELCAC is no instrument of peace, but an institution that perpetuates the condemnation of those who serve the people and stand up for their struggles.

As YIFI rooted in Aglipayan Spirituality, we seek to understand the root causes of the suffering of God’s children.

It is in that same vein that brave youth, from near and far, went to Toboso, seeking to understand the condition of peasant farmers that live with the reality of oppressive landlords, who have stolen their land and exploited their labor.

We are angered by the AFP, who have vowed to defend and protect the people but failed to protect civilians. We raise alarm over a pattern wherein state forces are quickly deployed against peasant farmers who struggle for better conditions.

Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon for Negrosanons, who have faced violence when speaking for their rights — the same violence that their visitors were met with.

As members of YIFI, we hearken to the call of the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).” Notice the term used: “peacemakers”, not merely “peacekeepers.” This means that peace is MADE & BUILT, not WAITED UPON.

Hence, we call upon the entire membership of YIFI to mourn and pray with the families of the Toboso 19.

Additionally, we call on the youth to take the first steps in peacemaking by channeling our anger and grief into collective action, and reiterating the importance of our call for peace talks to continue between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), in order to reinforce previous agreements and build upon them — until we reach a just and lasting peace.

We cannot remain idle in the face of blatant injustice, especially amid continuous violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), an 1998 agreement that was signed by both parties of the peace talks promoting adherence to international law and defending human rights in the midst of ongoing conflict.

The people of Negros simply cannot wait for more blood to be shed. As members of the IFI, we must call on our leaders to honor the dignity of their fellow people and to resume peace talks now!

Justice for the Toboso 19! Defend Negros. For the glory and praise of God, the freedom and justice in God’s nation, and peace on this earth.

May 4, 2026
Culasi, Antique