A Sacramento State Chapter of CFA Statement:

A Sacramento State Chapter of CFA Statement: 

Condemning Massacre of 19 by AFP in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines

The CFA at Sacramento State stands in strong condemnation of the massacre of 19 individuals carried out by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines.

On April 19, 2026, the 79th Infantry Brigade carried out an attack that killed human rights advocates, journalists, student organizers, and forcibly displaced 653 people from their homes. Among those killed were Lyle Prijoles, a Filipino American and San Francisco State University alum; Kai Sorem, a Filipino American musician and educator from Washington; RJ Ledesma, a poet, photographer, and journalist from Negros; Alyssa Alano and Maureen Keil Santuyo, students from the University of the Philippines; and Errol Wendel Chen, a community researcher and cultural worker.

As faculty within the California State University system, we recognize that students, educators, researchers, and cultural workers are often on the frontlines of struggles for justice both here and abroad. The individuals killed in Toboso are not distant figures; they reflect members of our own academic community. They are our students, our colleagues, and our future. At Sacramento State, we understand that the violence inflicted upon them reverberates through our classrooms, our campuses, and our communities.

We share the concerns raised by Filipino American organizations such as Malaya Movement and Kabataan Alliance regarding the increasing flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to right-wing governments abroad. In December 2025, the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing $900 billion in military spending, including $2.5 billion in security assistance to the AFP.

The timing of the massacre on the eve of the Balikatan exercises, joint military training operations between the United States and the Philippines raises urgent concerns about the role of U.S. military support in enabling such violence.

With U.S. funding, the AFP has expanded its operations and infrastructure, often at devastating cost to Filipino civilians. In its 2025 end-of-year report, KARAPATAN documented tens of thousands of victims of bombings and indiscriminate firing in the context of counterinsurgency operations under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. As seen in the Toboso massacre, these operations dangerously erase the line between civilian and combatant.

We echo the demands of Filipino American organizations and call on the U.S. Congress to:

• Advocate for an independent fact-finding mission into the Negros massacre of April 19–20, ensuring it is not led by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the AFP, or affiliated bodies.
• Investigate whether U.S. security assistance and weaponry were used in the April 19 attack and in other incidents involving aerial bombings, strafing, and indiscriminate firing.

As educators and union members within the CSU system, we affirm that an injury to one is an injury to all. The struggle for academic freedom, human rights, and community safety does not stop at national borders. The victims in Negros are part of our global academic community and we stand with them.

In Solidarity, 

Sacramento State Chapter Executive Board