BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The mother of slain peasant organizer Errol Wendel appealed to the military on Mother’s Day to return her son’s remains, weeks after he was killed in what rights groups now call the “Toboso massacre” in Negros Occidental.
“I miss him so much,” Wendel’s mother said in a statement released Saturday by the farmers’ group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA). “My Mother’s Day is not happy at all.”
Wendel was among the 19 people killed during an April 19 military operation in Toboso that the Armed Forces of the Philippines said was an armed encounter with communist rebels. Rights advocates and progressive groups disputed the military’s account, saying at least nine of those killed were civilians, including Wendel, an organizer for the peasant sector.
The incident, now widely referred to by activists as the “Toboso 19,” sparked calls for an independent investigation after questions emerged over the handling of the victims’ bodies and the circumstances of their deaths.
During a May 8th press conference, forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun disclosed that the cadaver turned over to Wendel’s family was not his, preventing her from conducting an autopsy on his remains.
Fortun earlier raised concerns over the handling of the Toboso victims’ bodies, noting the absence of gunpowder burns and other findings that human rights groups said contradicted claims of a firefight.
Wendel’s family said the misidentification deprived them of the chance to properly mourn and bury him.
“All I want now is to get his body back and bury him properly,” his mother said.
Ariel Casilao, national chairperson of UMA, warned that the delay and mishandling could obstruct efforts to uncover the truth behind the killings.
In Negros, long marked by deep land inequality and poverty among sugar workers, labor groups said Wendel’s organizing work focused on documenting the conditions of landless farm workers, many of whom survive on extremely low wages.
Paghimutad 