They could have been my children

By E. Maestro

I heard the news of the deaths of 19 individuals, now collectively known as the Negros 19 or the Toboso 19, when it first came out in military press releases. The people killed were initially nameless and faceless until reports came in from other sources different from the military’s narratives. Recent data, especially from the initial autopsy reports of Dr. Fortun, the forensic pathologist who examined several of the bodies, plus more reports and statements strongly indicate the killings constitute a massacre and a gross violation of international humanitarian laws.

And I saw their faces. Read their names. Their ages. Their academic backgrounds. Their commitment to helping others. And that is when it hit me. As a mother, they could have been my children – they could easily have been mine. 

Young, bright, passionate, thoughtful of others especially the poor and the oppressed, and  I would add, selfless and kind. As a mother who taught my own children to be kind and serve the people, these young people (who could easily have been my own) had in their short lives acted on  one of the world’s great commandments –  “love your neighbour as yourself.” 

R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30, community journalist; Alyssa Alano, UP Diliman Student Councilor; Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, UP student, member, National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates; Errol Wendel, 24, member, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura; Lyle Prijoles, 40, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, from San Francisco, USA; Kai Sorem, 26, from Seattle, USA. 

Pati sila, na taga-roon, the young people killed from Toboso: a young farmer Roel Sabillo, 19, Jemina Gumadlas, 15; and Dexter Patajo, 17.

The military claimed the 19 dead were all “rebels”. The New People’s Army disputed this with its statement and  listed the names of the slain 10 Red fighters, their names and ages.   The rest were civilians.

The news of the deaths has gone viral. Tributes were held in and out of the Philippines. They also demanded answers from the military and the state, they demanded  justice and accountability, and in the case of Errol’s family, the immediate return of Errol’s body (because the military sent them the wrong one!) There is a strong and loud call for an urgent, independent and impartial investigation into what happened in Toboso, Negros, including the reported killings and the forced displacement of the communities. The military’s narrative is unraveling. 

The military and the state forget that their track record under this regime (and all regimes starting from the dictator Marcos Senior) is a track record dripping with blood.

What happened  is not an isolated incident. There have been other killings and massacres of peasants, workers and human rights defenders in Negros, an island plagued for decades with poverty, hunger, landlessness and militarization, counter-insurgency operations against the people and human rights violations while big and rich landlord families and all the apparatus needed by them to protect their interests hold sway all over the island. 

To ask why the young people were in Negros is to ask back, Why not? Ano ba ang nangyayari sa Negros, sa mga mamamayan na nasa Negros? 

There is a civil war raging inside the country. For decades. All governments and its military, from Marcos, Sr. to the present one under Marcos, Jr.  have publicly boasted that they would eliminate the armed rebellion during their terms. These remain empty boasts. The New People’s Army just marked its 57th anniversary, perhaps a testament to its struggle for freedom and democracy for the country’s poor and oppressed. 

But the Philippine Secretary of Defense says there is already peace in the country! Coming at the heels of the case of the Negros 19, I felt the statement was made to gloss over what the military has done in Negros. Tell that to the mothers who have to bury their children!

There are malicious, cruel, and vilest online comments from many Filipinos, from paid trolls, cowards who hide behind fake names, perhaps from the NTF-ELCAC.  The goal is clear – even in death, strip them of their humanity and dignity – dehumanize them to render them by some malicious logic that they do not deserve basic human rights and due process. To ridicule the dead, blame the dead and their families, mock them with words like “ Corned beef”, is to expose the loss of basic human empathy and humanity.

We cannot turn a blind eye to the war that is happening back home. As a mother, I have taught my children that we, Filipinos,  belong to a  proud and courageous lineage of Filipino men and women who have resisted, fought back, who have served and loved our country and the people, throughout our history – that is in our DNA as Filipinos. 

To the mothers of the young people who were killed, niyayakap ko po kayo, bilang ina. Ang inyo pong mga anak ay mabubuting anak ng bayan. ###