PBI-Canada observes vígil for the Toboso 19 outside the Embassy of the Philippines, May Day call to shut down CANSEC in Ottawa

On May 1, Anakbayan Ottawa and allies held a vigil outside the Embassy of the Philippines in Canada in downtown Ottawa for the nineteen people killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Toboso, Negros on April 19, 2026.

Among the 19 people killed were Lyle Prijoles, a Filipino American who advocated against US taxpayer dollars funding the bullets and bombs used by the AFP and Philippine National Police, community researcher Errol Wendell, university student Alyssa Alano who was studying land grabbing and militarization, journalist RJ Ledesma, and agrarian reform advocate Maureen Keil Santuyo.

The speakers at the vigil included Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, the National Chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). He held a drawing of Errol Wendell as he spoke. Wendell was a 24-year-old researcher of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura who was in Negros at the time gathering data for a situationer report on Negrosanon sakadas.

The Anakbayan Ottawa social media post notes: “This massacre is directly connected to the current conditions of the Philippines which does not serve the people, but foreign interests and those in power. Among those killed were students, researchers, journalists and even overseas Filipinos.”

Militarization

Anakbayan says: “They chose to go to Negros because they understood the importance of being there, to learn from and serve the people. The people who are heavily exploited by land-grabbing, big landlords, displacement. All of which is backed by heavy militarization from the US backed Marcos Jr, regime who exploits the Philippines for its cheap export of natural resources.”

Land and environmental defenders

Global Witness and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) have reported: “Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. …The military has been linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the Philippines over the past decade. These abuses have gone unchecked.”

The demand for an investigation

Numerous groups have called for an immediate and independent investigation into the Toboso massacre, including BAYAN Canada, the human rights group Karapatan, the Human Rights Advocates Negros (HRAN), and the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) network.

The Philippines at CANSEC

Despite the well-documented human rights violations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), there will be a delegation from the Philippines at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this coming May 27-28.

CANSEC brings together 60+ international delegations and nearly 300 weapons and technology companies including the biggest and most profitable weapons companies, such as Lockheed Martin (that has sold F-16 Block 70 fighter jets for “air-to-ground support” to the Philippines).

Highlighting the connections between militarization and human rights violations, Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos and Rosie Lucente from the International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) spoke at the May Day rally outside the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) not long after the emergency vigil at the Embassy of the Philippines in Canada.

CADSI is the association of weapons and surveillance companies – including Lockheed Martin – that organizes the annual CANSEC arms show.

For updates from the Shut Down CANSEC campaign, click here.

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading

–PBI-Canada meets with Filipino human rights defender Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos in Ottawa (April 29, 2026)

–Journalist, researchers killed by Armed Forces of the Philippines on eve of Operation Balikatan exercise with Canadian soldiers (PBI-Canada, April 25, 2026)

–Filipino human rights defenders and allies rally in Ottawa as thousands protest corruption in the Philippines (PBI-Canada, November 30, 2025).