24/04/2026
๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐น๐๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ
The UP Circle of Industrial Engineering Majors (UP CIEM) expresses its strongest condemnation of the recent massacre in Negros Occidental that led to the killing of 19 individuals, including a student connected to the University of the Philippines Diliman. We stand in solidarity with the families, communities, and institutions grieving the loss of Alyssa Alano, and the many others whose lives have been unjustly taken.
The situation in Negros cannot be viewed in isolation. The province has long been shaped by an unequal agrarian system, where large haciendas concentrate wealth among a few while marginalizing farmers and rural workers. Rather than addressing these structural issues, state responses have leaned toward militarization, which increased military and police presence under the pretext of "lawless violence." In practice, this has created a de facto state of Martial Law, fostering an environment where dissent, organizing, and even community work are treated with suspicion.
We are alarmed by the continued use of red-tagging, a dangerous and unfounded tactic that labels civilians, including students, journalists, and organizers, as enemies of the state. Such narratives have repeatedly been used to justify violence against individuals whose primary aim is to serve communities. Under International Humanitarian Law, being tagged or linked to dissent does not qualify a person as a legitimate target. Even during armed conflict, this designation is conditional and depends on whether an individual is directly participating in hostilities at a given moment. A student engaged in fieldwork is not a combatant, and neither is a farmworker simply earning a living. The burden lies on state forces to prove, for every life taken, that the individual was a legitimate military target at the exact moment of their death. Without such proof, these killings must be treated for what they are: violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
Alyssa Alano, as Education and Research Councilor of the UP Diliman Student Council, carried forward the belief that education must extend into the lives and realities of the people. Her work in Negros reflected a deep commitment to knowledge in the service of communities. As a peasant organizer, she stood alongside farmers and rural workers, helping mobilize collective action for fair treatment, access to resources, and genuine land reform. Her advocacy was rooted in addressing systemic injustices, poverty, landlessness, and economic exploitation-not through abstraction, but through lived engagement.
This form of immersion is integral to higher education. Universities actively encourage students to step outside the confines of the classroom, to engage with communities, and to ground learning in real-world conditions. To equate this pursuit of knowledge and social engagement with armed participation is a dangerous distortion. Seeking to understand, serve, and transform society must never be misconstrued as grounds to label someone a combatant.
As Iskolar ng Bayan, we recognize that our discipline is inseparable from the systems that govern production, allocation, and decision-making. These systems carry the weight of human consequences, shaped by the realities of those who live within them and, in turn, shaping the conditions of society. To study them is to confront the structures that sustain inequality and injustice and to remain accountable to the people they affect. Our pursuit of knowledge demands critical engagement and a commitment to uphold human dignity. The language of โlawlessness" cannot be allowed to obscure truth or excuse actions that diminish human dignity, for no framework of order can stand when it disregards the very lives it claims to protect.
UP CIEM calls for an independent, transparent, and impartial investigation into the killings in Negros, one that brings truth to light and justice to those who have been silenced. We demand accountability from all perpetrators of human rights violations, recognizing that impunity only deepens the wounds borne by communities. We urge an end to red-tagging and the criminalization of civic engagement, where service to the people is miscast as a threat. We call for the protection of students, journalists, and community workers whose work sustains the public good. Above all, we call for a reorientation of state priorities toward addressing the roots of inequality, especially in the agrarian sector, where long-standing injustices continue to shape the lives of many.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ. They are thinkers, builders, and partners in shaping a more equitable society. As future industrial engineers, we commit to wielding our knowledge to ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ so they uphold ๐ท๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐, and the ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ of the Filipino people.
Justice for Alyssa Alano, and all victims of state violence.
Uphold International Humanitarian Law.
Defend Negros.
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