NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – He came from the southwestern part of the United States with the conviction of someone who believed stories could be a form of accountability, and that bearing witness could still matter in places shaped by conflict.

Lyle Prijoles, a 40-year-old Filipino-American born and raised in San Diego, California, was among 19 people killed in the disputed April 19 gunbattle in Sitio Sinugmawan, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, an incident now at the center of competing claims of an encounter and a massacre.

Born to parents from the Ilocos Region who run a food and restaurant business in San Diego, Prijoles maintained close ties to the Philippines where he traced his roots and made repeated visits, especially to Negros Occidental, where he became increasingly involved in community work. 

Since 2019, he had been regularly traveling to the country and later became a member of the International Coalition of Human Rights (ICHR) in the Philippines.

His death, part of what has been called the “Negros 19,” has reverberated across human rights networks in the Philippines and abroad, prompting calls from groups such as Malaya USA, Gabriela USA, and Bagong Ayansang Makabayan (Bayan) USA for an independent and wider investigation. The National Union of People’s Lawyers has also urged international monitoring of the case.

In San Diego, Prijoles was remembered as a well-liked community member with deep involvement in cultural and advocacy work. In college, he excelled in arts and student organizations while pursuing journalism and Asian-American studies, a combination that later shaped his activism.

Friends and colleagues said he consistently sought to extend learning beyond the classroom, using his education to document and amplify the voices of marginalized communities. He later became active in Bayan USA and other advocacy groups, focusing on human rights and social justice issues.

Prijoles made several trips back to the Philippines after college, spending time with rural communities affected by poverty, disasters, and armed conflict. 

During one of his most recent visits, he traveled to Negros Occidental to live among residents and document their daily struggles, particularly in areas long marked by socio-economic inequality and militarization.

He was reportedly visiting Toboso during the spring season in the US when he decided to extend his stay in the Philippines. That trip would be his last.

Prijoles had recently formed a close friendship with RJ Nichole Ledesma, a 30-year-old community journalist from Bacolod City who was also killed in the same incident. Ledesma had previously worked with local media organizations and served as editor-in-chief of The Spectrum, the student publication of the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod.

Human rights advocates in Negros said the two bonded during a solidarity mission tied to a controversial palm oil plantation project in Candoni town, describing them as kindred spirits in community work.

“We saw how they clicked after that mission in Candoni,” said Felipe Gelle of Human Rights Advocates Negros.

Bayan USA condemned the incident and accused the military of indiscriminate firing, saying the deaths of Prijoles and others constituted a violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. The group also said the operation displaced hundreds of residents in nearby villages.

“We grieve and demand justice,” Bayan USA said, naming Prijoles among those it considers victims of the incident.

Colonel Louie Dema-ala, an Army spokesman, and other military officials have rejected the allegations, asserting the April 19 incident was a legitimate armed encounter between government and communist rebel forces.

The Commission on Human Rights has launched an investigation into the case, which has drawn growing international attention amid conflicting accounts of what transpired in Toboso and broader debate over counterinsurgency operations in rural communities, the classification of such incidents, and the recurring allegations of civilian harm in conflict-affected areas. – Rappler.com