MEP Marc Botenga (The Left) has asked the European Commission whether it will suspend free trade agreement negotiations with the Philippines and call for an independent investigation into the 19 April 2026 Toboso massacre, in which 19 people were killed and over 650 displaced. The written question, submitted on 3 June 2026, also presses the Commission on suspending the Philippines from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade preference scheme, which requires respect for human and labour rights.
The question cites reports from human rights organisations that the military operation violated international humanitarian law and targeted community organising. Botenga links the massacre to broader rights abuses in the Philippines, including arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and red-tagging. He asks whether the Commission has already suspended trade talks, whether it will demand an independent international investigation and accountability for perpetrators, and whether it intends to suspend the Philippines from GSP+ due to rights violations.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. The answer will signal the EU's policy direction on trade and human rights in the Philippines, affecting stakeholders such as Philippine agricultural exporters (who benefit from GSP+ preferences), EU importers, Filipino civil society groups, and the Philippine government itself.