2 Americans among suspected Reds killed in Negros Occidental

MANILA, Philippines — Two Americans were among those killed in the armed encounter between the military and New People’s Army (NPA) in Toboso, Negros Occidental last week, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict said.

NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. over the weekend said Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem were identified among the 19 dead in the clash on April 19.

Prijoles was reported to have been an active member of Anakbayan-USA since 2012, based on information from his publicly accessible Facebook profile, where he indicated that he served as the organization’s solidarity officer until 2016 before assuming the role of education officer from 2016 to 2019.

Anakbayan-USA is another organization linked to the communist movement, alongside Bayan-USA. His profile also indicates that he studied at San Francisco State University in California.

“We extend our deep condolences to his family. His passing is a tragedy. But it is also a warning,” Torres said in a statement.

Sorem, from Tacoma, Washington, was also reported by the Philippine Army as a founding member of Anakbayan USA.

The task force warned Americans of Filipino descent in the US to be wary of being lured by left-wing activist groups into joining or supporting Filipino insurgents in the Philippines in a recruitment process it described as “terror-grooming.”

“What is increasingly evident is the emergence of a disturbing pattern involving members of the Filipino-American community – from Chantal Anicoche, to Cristina Pasion, and now Lyle Prijoles – whose cases raise serious concerns about how individuals are being influenced, guided, or drawn into situations that ultimately place their lives at grave risk,” Torres said.

On Jan. 8 this year, Filipino-American activist Anicoche, 24, was also rescued by Army troops, following an encounter with a group of NPA rebels  in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro.

The US and the Philippines have separately designated the NPA as a terrorist organization.

Torres said the facts surrounding the Toboso encounter, an engagement triggered by civilian reporting, involving a ranking NPA leader with a P1 million bounty, the recovery of firearms, a wounded soldier, and the arrest of fleeing elements, showed that those present were in a live combat environment, not a civilian setting.

The Philippine Army denied allegations on social media that those killed during the encounter were not NPA insurgents but civilians.

Human rights groups called for an independent probe, saying that civilians were killed, including a student leader from the University of the Philippines, two local advocates for farmers’ rights and a local community journalist who wanted to show support for impoverished villagers.

Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and ACT party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio are pushing for a congressional investigation into what had transpired, to find clarity and the truth, as the Commission on Human Rights has started its probe of the incident in Negros.