Progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Negros and Mothers and Relatives of Victims of Tyranny (MARTYRS) on the 41st anniversary of the Escalante Massacre in Negros Occidental on September 20 paid tribute to the 20 civilians “martyrs” killed during the 1985 protest.
The victims were killed on September 20, 1985, when Philippine Constabulary forces and paramilitary units opened fire on a peaceful Welgang Bayan (People’s Strike) demanding an end to the Marcos dictatorship, they said in a press statement.
The fatal dispersal also left hundreds injured in front of the town center.
They military forces for attempting to suppress public commemorations and alter historical accounts. Organizers reported that armed military personnel were deployed near the “Taas-Kamao” Monument—erected in memory of the fallen protestors—and that traditional street reenactments of the massacre were prohibited in Escalante, the press statement said.
They said the socioeconomic conditions that sparked the original 1985 protest—including systemic poverty, low wages for sugar plantation workers, and the worsening crisis in the sugar industry— still persist across Negros.
They called for accountability, noting that full justice remains unachieved while democratic rights and right to organize face continued pressure under current state policies.
“Justice is long overdue for those who were responsible for the carnage,” they said.
The progressive groups vowed to continue annual commemorations, declaring that democratic freedoms are maintained through continued public resistance.*
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