We call for a truly independent investigation into the April 19 killings in Toboso with full and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers, independent human rights experts, and the families of the dead. We call for accountability — not just for those who pulled the trigger, but for those who ordered, tolerated, and concealed the killings. We call on the international community to monitor this case closely, as it is not an isolated incident but part of a continuing pattern of IHL violations across the Philippine countryside.

A city does not become safer by humiliating poor residents in mass operations over minor ordinance violations. Public order cannot be enforced by stretching local ordinances beyond their terms, bypassing constitutional limits, or treating poverty itself as suspicious.

There can be no genuine equality while women remain targets of abuse, exploitation, and contempt, and while poor and working women continue to suffer the combined violence of patriarchy and economic oppression. To defend women’s rights is to fight misogyny in all its forms, demand accountability from those who perpetuate it, and challenge the social order that keeps women vulnerable, silenced, and exploited.