A local group has criticized the Negros Occidental provincial government for accepting agricultural assistance from Israel, following a visit by Israeli Consul Mito Cohen.
Consul Cohen met with Governor Eugenio “Bong” Lacson on July 30, 2025, to offer help in addressing the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation affecting sugarcane farms in the province and to extend support to the family of a Negrense overseas Filipino worker (OFW) killed in an airstrike.
In a statement issued on July 31, the group Freedom From Colonization – Negros criticized the visit and expressed concern not over the aid for the OFW’s family, but specifically over the province’s acceptance of Israeli help in local agricultural issues.
Lacson earlier said that an Israeli agricultural expert is expected to arrive in the coming week to conduct tests and assist in addressing the RSSI infestation in the province.
While acknowledging the need to respond swiftly and efficiently to the agricultural problem, the group strongly opposed the province’s engagement with Israel.
They described it as a move that, “amidst its relentless and cruel genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, is equivalent to being complicit in the ongoing murder of thousands.”
The statement asserts that historically, aid has been “used as a tool to silence populations and skew narratives by presenting false compassion.”
Mockery of Negros?
The group also condemned the provincial government’s “enthusiastic welcome” of the consul, calling it “a mockery of Negros’ own dark and bloody context of violent and colonial land systems.”
They added that Israel’s concern for Negros agriculture is questionable, saying that 95% of cropland in Gaza is reportedly no longer cultivable due to ongoing attacks.
“Israel cannot care for Negrosanon sugarcane while it ravages Palestinian olive trees,” the group said.
Citing casualties since October 2023, including more than 60,000 Palestinians killed and 147 deaths attributed to starvation, the group described the assistance as hypocritical.
They warned that continuing diplomatic engagement with Israel “grants them the legitimacy to brazenly continue committing war crimes.”
Drawing parallels between the hunger experienced in Negros and Gaza, the group referenced Joel Abong and victims of Batang Negros.
“Like Palestinians, we, too, have buried too many hungry children,” they said. “The Provincial Government’s cooperation with the Consul is tantamount to the desecration of both Negrosanon and Palestinian graves.”
The group called on the provincial government to cut ties with Israel and demands, “a decisive act of solidarity through the declaration of Negros Occidental as an Apartheid Free Zone.”
Lacson has not released a statement in response to the group’s pronouncement as of this writing.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.