SouthernWorldwide.com – Two American citizens are reported to have died in the Philippines during a military confrontation involving groups linked to the communist insurgency.
Lyle Prijoles, 40, and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, 26, were among the 19 individuals killed last month in a firefight between the Philippine Army and alleged members of a communist rebel group.
The U.S.-born Filipino Americans have become a focal point of a contested incident. Critics suggest that both were active combatants for the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The U.S. State Department has designated the NPA as a foreign terrorist organization.
However, human rights organizations and the NPA reportedly assert that Prijoles and Sorem were civilian activists and did not pose a military threat.
According to reports, the two Americans were first exposed to left-wing ideologies through college-affiliated institutions. Critics argue these institutions may have facilitated their involvement with groups that the Philippine government has long identified as fronts for the CPP.
The Philippines’ National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) stated, “This brings to two (2) the number of U.S. citizens—Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem—who died in the same incident, a development that highlights the increasing involvement of individuals from outside the Philippines in local armed hostilities.”
The NTF-ELCAC added, “The presence of two American fatalities in a single encounter should prompt careful reflection on how involvement in certain activities or networks may lead to unintended exposure to dangerous environments.”
On April 19, Philippine troops were involved in an armed encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental. The NTF-ELCAC characterized the 19 individuals killed as enemy combatants during an operation intended to dismantle the long-standing communist insurgency in the Philippines.
Conversely, family members and human rights advocates have reportedly described Prijoles and Sorem as dedicated civilian community activists. The NPA acknowledged that 10 of those killed were members of its armed revolutionary force.
However, the NPA claimed the remaining victims, including several activists like Prijoles and Sorem, did not pose a military threat, according to a report by The San Francisco Standard.
Read more : Summer Travelers Face "Vacation Inflation" Amid Rising Airfare and Gas Prices
In 2012, Lyle Prijoles, a Filipino American born and raised in San Diego, California, was associated with Anakbayan. This organization, translating to “Children of the Nation,” is a prominent left-wing youth and student group established in the Philippines in 1998.
Anakbayan-USA operates on various major U.S. college campuses and has faced criticism for its opposition to U.S. involvement in the Philippines.
His activism reportedly began after attending San Francisco State University around 2004. During that time, he joined the League of Filipino Students (LFS), a left-wing political alliance influenced by Marxist, Leninist, and Maoist ideologies, as detailed by City Journal.
After 2006, Prijoles reportedly made several trips to the Philippines organized by Bayan USA, another left-wing activist network. The Philippine government has alleged that both organizations function as fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Prijoles may have also harbored animosity towards the Armed Forces of the Philippines. This sentiment could stem from an assassination attempt in 2019 on a friend, who was the father of his godchild and the chairperson of the U.S. chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. The attack left his friend paralyzed, according to City Journal.
Meanwhile, Kai Dana Sorem was a Filipino American from Seattle. Her political development was initially shaped by a personal search for identity and cultural belonging, according to the advocacy group Malaya Movement.
Her early political involvement reportedly included serving as a legislative page for the Washington State Democratic Party.
Sorem later intensified her activism within left-wing Filipino diaspora organizations while attending Central Washington University in 2020. She subsequently launched the South Seattle chapter of Anakbayan, as stated by Malaya Movement.
In 2025, Sorem reportedly traveled to the Philippines on an exposure trip organized by U.S.-based groups. By 2026, she had relocated to the country permanently to work as an organizer.
