On May 19, 2026, the one month anniversary of the Negros 19 massacre, I spoke with activists on the ground outside the Philippines Consulate in Convention Place in downtown Seattle.
A stalwart crew of Filipinos and allies representing organizations such as Bayan Washington, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), and Malaya Movement gathered to raise awareness and let their voices be heard.
According to the organizer Yumi (a pseudonym used for privacy) of Malaya Seattle, the Philippine Consulate of Seattle has been evading organizers’ requests to be seen or to address the recent killings of 19 people in the Philippines on the island of Negros, even slamming the door in their faces on the afternoon of May 4.
I asked Yumi why the Philippine government is targeting the people of Negros and she made it clear that while Negros is resource-rich — 50% of Negros is sugar cane, a cash crop — the land and its people have been long exploited by landlords, government officials, and foreign corporations. Negros has become the “massacre capital of the Philippines” especially in recent years as Memorandum 32 (MO 32), put in place by former president Rodrigo Duterte who is currently facing charges of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court, effectively placed the entire province under de facto martial law. Philippine president Marcos Jr. has continued Duterte’s repressive policies in response to the growing resistance from peasant farmers in the face of immense poverty.
Like any one of us, the people of Negros simply want land, better wages, and a stable livelihood: the ability to live. However, the government continues to exploit the farmers who call the area home, indiscriminately killing journalists, youth, and civilians, while claiming that those killed were all insurgents belonging to the NPA (New People’s Army), which is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Moreover, according to the 2024 International Peoples Tribunal and Karapatan 2025’s Year-End Report on Human Rights, the ongoing Marcos Jr. program, the so-called National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD) creates militarization across the provinces and covers up violations of international humanitarian law.
Kai Sorem, a Filipina American organizer from Seattle and beloved to our community (journalist Guy Oron reported on a Seattle vigil for Sorem at the end of April for their independent website and newsletter Gossip Guy, which the International Examiner republished) was victim to the events of April 19.
An international group of over 100 people comprised of lawyers, youth, and church leaders went on a fact-finding mission to Negros. They found horrifying things such as the military using a farmer as a human shield; intimidating and interrogating farmers; twelve hours of aerial strafing; and the death of six unarmed civilians including two children under the age of eighteen.
A lawyer and local representative who attended the National Fact-finding and Solidarity Mission (NFSM) shared his observations from the endeavor, “Not only did residents confirm that civilians were among those that were killed but they confirmed that each person was there to learn about the struggles in the area,” said Troy Osaki, lawyer and partner of the International Coalition of Human Rights in the Philippines. “Each of them sought to uphold the rights and welfare of our people who are oppressed and exploited. This is the Kai we know, this is the Lyle we know. They are not terrorists. They were thoughtful, brilliant leaders in our communities who were unjustly killed by the Philippine military. One month later, and we know the facts. We are no longer calling for an independent investigation. We are calling to expose the inhumane militarization of Negros, of peasants and farmers in the Philippines. We are now calling for justice and accountability.”
I asked Yumi what could be done or what the folks gathered wanted to accomplish, and she said: “We want all the Filipinos to know they have a voice and [for them to] contact their legislators and say, ‘Our fellow Filipinos were massacred. What are you going to do about it?’ We also want to investigate what part the U.S. military played in facilitating that massacre.”
Cries of “Kabuhayan, hindi bala! (Livelihood, not bullets!)” and “Justice for the Negros 19!” could be heard in downtown Seattle alongside drum beats. I wonder, could the people inside the Philippine Consulate hear too?
The collective of young folks also pointed out that on June 3, it will be put to a vote whether Philippine president Marcos Jr. gets a seat in the United Nations Security Council. Marcos Jr. has abetted, condoned, or turned a blind eye to this massacre and continuing injustice and human rights violations occurring in Negros. Therefore, he must be blocked from having a seat. Organizers are holding a National Day of Action in response. For, what role can someone allowing this to happen in his homeland play in international efforts towards peace?
“US-[backed] Marcos is #1 security threat to the Filipino people. While our families are starving, struggling to make ends meet, and our mothers and fathers are trafficked, what is Marcos and his administration doing?” said Kat of GABRIELA Seattle.
Readers who want to get involved can contact their local representatives — Pramila Jayapal, Adam Smith, Senator Patty Murray — and demand justice for the families of Soren, Prijoles, and others killed. Call on them to formally investigate the extent to which US military aid and weaponry facilitated the massacre, and demand an end to the billions of dollars of US military aid to the Philippines, for example the December 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill which approved $2.5 billion USD over five years towards the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Urge them to support the Philippine Human Rights Act (humanrightsph.org).
We somberly remember the fallen.
According to Anakbayan USA, “While seeking to learn from and serve the communities there, Kai was among the 19 individuals brutally massacred by the AFP. Others murdered were farmers, student leaders, community journalists, and researchers, including: Lyle Prijoles, another beloved Filipino American activist; RJ Ledesma, a youth journalist and writer; Alyssa Alano, a student leader at UP Diliman; and Errol Wendel and Maureen Santuyo, both peasant advocates. They were all murdered simply for immersing with communities to learn from their struggles against land grabbing, development aggressions, and militarism.”
Ten members of the NPA were also killed, one of whom had a funeral procession with hundreds of local residents, showing the masses’ love for them despite the state’s demarcation of them as insurgents. The nine civilian lives lost included: Roel Sabillo, 19, resident of Barangay Tabunac, Toboso;R.J. Nichole Ledesma, 30, community journalist from Bacolod City; Alyssa Alano, councilor, UP Diliman Student Council; Maureen Keil Santuyo, 24, member, National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA-Youth); Errol Wendel, 24, member, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura; a 15-year old child from Sitio Plarending, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso; Lyle Prijoles, 40, of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, from San Francisco, California, USA; Kai Sorem, 26, from Seattle, Washington, USA; a 17-year old child from Sitio Buklog, Barangay Lalong, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
The extent to which we stay silent about corrupt entities seeking to exploit, even unto death, is the extent to which such deeds continue to occur.
Let your voices be heard, like the folks taking time out of their day to shout, wave their carefully and lovingly crafted signs to educate passersby on 6th and Pine St. Don’t let Kai Sorem, Lyle Prijoles, or Alyssa Alano be forgotten, an inconvenience, just because this did not happen to you or your family. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
