30/04/2026
๐ ๐๐ฆ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ก๐, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง, ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
Last April 19, 2026, nineteen individuals were killed in Brgy. Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, at the hands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including student leader Alyssa Alano, journalist RJ Ledesma, and advocates Maureen Santuyo and Errol Wendel. The massacre of the Toboso 19 has since sparked outrage and debate across social media, alongside the resurgence of dangerous narratives that equate research in remote or upland areas (bukid) with terrorism, branding researchers as affiliates of the New Peopleโs Army (NPA).
These claims are baseless and part of a broader pattern of red-tagging that puts lives at risk. The Mindanawon Anthropological Society of Ateneo (MASA) strongly condemns these narratives for distorting the purpose of research, weaponizing misinformation, and endangering those who work with and among communities. In a time when critical inquiry is most urgent, the criminalization of research exposes a deeper crisisโwhere truth-seeking is treated as subversion and solidarity as insurgency.
Anthropologists are no strangers to remote communities, working closely with people to understand the complexities of their lives. In the Philippines, the discipline took a decisive turn during Martial Law (1972โ1986), becoming more critical and political. In response to inequality, state violence, and the silencing of marginalized voices, anthropologists moved beyond academic spaces to engage communities directlyโnot only to document culture, but to expose injustice and challenge the structures that sustain it.
Fieldwork lies at the core of anthropologyโit is not merely a method, but the very foundation of the disciplineโs identity. It demands immersion, openness, and a willingness to unlearn, situating knowledge not in institutions but in people's lived experiences. Through fieldwork, anthropologists do not simply observe; they listen, participate, and engage, building an understanding accountable to the communities they work with without reducing them to disposable statistics. Such engagements reflect a deeper commitment to the principles taught within academic spacesโwhere knowledge becomes not only analytical, but responsive, grounded, and accountable.
It is not terrorism to learn about society and the people, systems, institutions, processes, relationships, interactions, ideologies, customs, and so on that constitute and build it. It is not terrorism to seek answers to why systems uplift some while crushing others. It is an obligation to question persistent inequality, and a responsibilityโespecially for those in the humanities and social sciencesโto stand with the communities our society neglects. In this sense, the presence of student researchers in these spaces reflects a commitment to rigorous, people-oriented inquiry and to centering voices long excluded from academic discourse.
In the face of these threats, we call on academic institutions, researchers, and the broader public to resist and speak out against red-tagging in all its forms. We urge the protection of students, researchers, and community workers who continue to engage in critical, people-centered work despite increasing risks. Now more than ever, we must defend the spaces for inquiry, uphold the integrity of research, and stand in solidarity with marginalized communities. To remain silent is to allow these dangerous narratives to persist. To act is to affirm that research, grounded in truth and accountability, belongs to the peopleโand will continue to serve them.
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