Toolkit Instructions

Calling Legislators to sign onto Rep. Jayapal’s Congressional letter calling for an Independent Investigation into the Negros 19 Massacre!

Deadline July 21 7A PST / 10A EST!

Justice for the Negros 19! Stop the Killings in the Philippines!

tinyurl.com/negros19-advocacy-toolkit

Legislative Advocacy Toolkit Instructions

Updated: 7/16/26

The following document contains resources and templates for engaging your legislators to take action to demand justice for Filipino American human rights advocate, Lyle Prijoles and Youth Activist Kai Sorem alongside the 17 others who was murdered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Toboso massacre in Negros Occidental on April 19, 2026.

Victory! WA US Representative Pramilya Jayapal and the National Union Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) met while NUPL received the 2026 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, an international prize honoring “champions of social justice who stand up to oppression in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights.” in Washington, DC this past June. An outcome from that meeting was a Congressional letter directed to Philippine US Ambassador, Jose Romualdez to call for an independent, impartial and credible investigation into the Negros 19 massacre. We are so grateful for the work done on the ground and the support of Jayapal to share our concerns.

The letter went live July 15, 2026 and is gathering signatures from legislators with the deadline of July 21, 7A pst | 10A est. Let’s engage the mass movement to set up meetings, call and email your legislators to sign onto the letter ASAP!

Link to the letter (only accessible to Congressional offices):

https://quill.senate.gov/letters/letter/38096/opt-in/view/b1ca968a-61c2-44b7-ab03-d090a08bc376/ 

If you’d like to read the draft letter, please email: philippinehumanrightsact@gmail.com

The toolkit includes:

  • Toolkit Instructions
  • Phone + Email Scripts
  • Priority Legislators
  • Reporting Form
  • Resources

Engaging your legislators

The current asks for legislators include:

  1. URGENT ASK: Sign onto Rep. Jayapal’s congressional letter to Philippine Ambassador Romualdez demanding an independent investigation into the Negros 19 massacre. Signatures due by Tues. July 21 at 10am ET: https://quill.senate.gov/letters/letter/38096/opt-in/view/b1ca968a-61c2-44b7-ab03-d090a08bc376/ 

Action network link: tinyurl.com/jayapal-negros19-letter

  1. Advocate for an independent investigation into the Negros 19 massacre on April 19-20, ensuring that it is not led by the NTF-ELCAC, AFP or affiliated agencies and organizations
  2. Raise inquiries into whether US security assistance and weaponry was used in the military operations on April 19th and other incidents of aerial bombings and indiscriminate firings and strafing like the Jan 1st bombings in Mindoro
  3. Issue public statements and letters demanding justice for Lyle Prijoles, Kai Sorem and the Negros 19, and transparency and accountability from the Philippine government and the AFP for war crimes committed against U.S. citizens

How you can engage your representatives: 

Find your representative — www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

  1. Call and email your representatives using the sample scripts 
  2. Schedule a lobby meeting with their office to discuss the Toboso massacre of the Negros 19, and raise the current ask for legislators listed above.
  1. Beyond the Negros 19, use the meeting as an opportunity to discuss the overall human rights situation in the Philippines, and the impacts of US security assistance to the Philippines.

Context

What Happened on April 19-20?

On April 19-20, 2026, the US Backed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) carried out a strafing military operation for 12 hrs in Negros Occidental. This led to the brutal massacre of 19 people, including youth activists, journalists, and peasant advocates and the displacement of 653 residents, and an additional 200 that resided between Escalante City & Toboso. Among the killed were two Filipino US Citizens and human rights advocates, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem. This was an undeniable violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Who are Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem?

Lyle, 40, was a beloved community member who for decades was involved with the Filipino community—whether through his parents’ Filipino restaurant, student clubs in college, arts and cultural organizations, and human rights advocacy groups. Having studied journalism and Asian-American Studies, Lyle strove to take his education beyond the classroom, and use it to listen to and uplift the stories of marginalized communities who had the courage to stand for their rights.

Kai was a 26 year old woman, youth activist, cultural worker, and musician raised in Steilacoom, WA. With a shining smile, she was incredibly gentle and kind, driven by her great love for the masses. Kai's family shaped her to be loving, patient, and attentive to others. She was curious to learn about others and help in any way she could. She was committed to educating the community on people’s history, providing culturally relevant education for the youth, and advocating for migrant workers rights.

Lyle and Kai were immersing with communities in Negros to learn first-hand their daily hardships of peasant farming communities and their struggle for land and justice.

Ongoing Human Rights Violations in Negros Island

This is not the first instance of state violence in Negros as it has a long history of state repression, going back to the 1900s when sugar cane workers were severely exploited. In recent years, it has been exacerbated by the Duterte-era Memorandum Order 32 issued in 2018, which increased AFP presence on the Filipino peasants, farmworkers, and activists:

  • October 20, 2018: the Sagay 9 were nine farmers extrajudicially killed while eating dinner in their tent. In that same year, Lawyer and founding member of the National Union of People's Lawyer Atty. Benjamin Ramos was killed.
  • August 17, 2020: Human rights worker and peasant advocate Zara Alvarez was shot in broad daylight by masked vigilantes.
  • March 7, 2021: Nine peasants from the National Federation of Sugar Workers were massacred, while dozens more were illegally arrested by state forces.

Even under the Marcos, Jr. Administration, from 2022 to 2025, 52 out of the 135 victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines were from Negros. The murder of Lyle, Kai, and the other 17 are now added to that number.

Autopsy of Negros 19

A recently conducted autopsy of those killed in the Negros 19 massacre in the Philippines, including Filipino-Americans Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem, is painting a picture that counters the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) narrative that the massacre was a "legitimate armed encounter". Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun—who was pivotal in the examination of bodies killed under former president Rodrigo Duterte‘s drug war and featured in the New York Times for her expertise—led the autopsy, which was conducted April 25-29 at the request of the victims' relatives. The results exposed many discrepancies in the narrative of the AFP and indicate war crimes.

Dr. Fortun noted gross mishandling of the remains and evidence following the massacre, including a lack of a basic homicide investigation, and the lack of preservation of the bodies as well as the belongings of those killed. Fortun shared some of the remains were already in advanced stages of decomposition and wrapped tightly in plastic, including their faces. The autopsy also revealed that the clothes of the victims in the images presented by the AFP did not match what happened to their bodies. For example, one of the bodies examined had a bullet vest on, but Fortun pointed out that if he was hit where the bullet vest had been placed, there should have also been a hole in the vest.

Fortun also highlighted a disturbing case of mishandling—after examining the body submitted by the AFP identified as Errol Wendel, she concluded that it was not him after comparing the body's height, dental features, scars and clothing with what relatives knew of Errol.

The examination of gun shot wounds on the bodies illustrated bullets entered from the back shot by high velocity rifles, which runs counter to the claims that the Negros 19 were killed in a live firefight. One victim was shot four times including a shot to the leg, where the bullet struck an artery and a vein. According to Fortun, the individual's cause of death was likely due to bleeding out from the wound and neglect to provide medical attention, which constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

Fact-Finding Mission Confirms Civilian Victims, Ongoing IHL Violations in Toboso

May 16, 2026

A national fact-finding and solidarity mission (NFSM) composed of more than a hundred human rights workers, Makabayan lawmakers, activists, church workers, youth leaders, and journalists found the Philippine military liable for terrorizing farming communities in Negros Occidental following the bloody massacre in Toboso on April 19.

The mission confirms, through witness testimonies, that six of the massacre victims were known civilians, including peasant advocates and peasant organizers, directly contradicting the military’s narrative that all those killed were combatants.

Through documented eyewitness testimonies, the mission further confirmed that soldiers committed multiple violations against civilians, including the forcible use of civilian homes as military encampment, harassment and intimidation of residents in the name of counter-insurgency operations, restriction on farming activities, indiscriminate firing near homes, illegal detention, and even the alleged use of a farmer as a human shield.

Members of the mission themselves experienced various forms of harassment during the conduct of the investigation. Delegates reported being tailed by a suspicious individual on a motorcycle who was seen taking photographs of the convoy’s vehicles. During a courtesy call at the Barangay Hall of Barangay Salamanca, around five unidentified individuals were also observed openly photographing the delegates, raising serious concerns over surveillance and intimidation aimed at obstructing independent human rights documentation efforts. Residents likewise reported the presence of the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in the area days prior to the mission.

Meanwhile, Sadie Stone, an American pastor and member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), was disallowed entry in the Philippines for being blacklisted allegedly for participating in “political activities” in 2016. Stone was supposed to join the National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission.

The mission strongly condemns these deplorable acts, alongside the military’s continued denial of massacring non-combatants. Acts that terrorize and endanger civilians constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions.

The mission calls for accountability from the AFP, an end to the militarization in Negros, and justice for all victims in the Negros 19 massacre.

Reporting Form

After you engage legislators, please fill out this report form: tinyurl.com/Negros19ReportForm 

Phone + Email Scripts

Phone Script to Legislators

“Hello, my name is _____ and I am a constituent of Representative _____. I am very concerned about the April 19th massacre by the Philippine Army in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines that killed 19 individuals, including two U.S. Citizens, Kai Sorem and Lyle Prijoles.

I’m calling to urge Rep. _____ to sign onto Rep. Jayapal’s congressional letter to Philippine Ambassador, Jose Manuel Romualdez, calling for an independent, impartial, and credible investigation into the killings. The deadline is July 21 at 10am EST.

Please get back to me to let me know if Rep. ___ will sign on. Thank you.”

To note: If you’re speaking to a staffer, you can share if they have further questions to Rep. Jayapal’s DC Legislative Assistant, Diego Antonio Sanchez Samayoa, at Diego.Sanchez@mail.house.gov

Email Template to Legislators

You can send an email to all of your legislators using Action Network: tinyurl.com/jayapal-negros19-letter

Dear _______,

My name is ____, and I am a constituent of ____.  I am very concerned about the April 19th massacre by the Philippine Army in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines that killed 19 individuals, including two U.S. Citizens, Kai Sorem and Lyle Prijoles.

I am urging Rep. _____ to sign onto Rep. Jayapal’s congressional letter to Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Jose Manuel Romualdez, calling for an independent, impartial, and credible investigation into the killings. The deadline is July 21 at 10am EST.

During the massacre, the Philippine Army conducted an indiscriminate strafing operation in Negros Occidental leading to the displacement of over 653 community members (180 families) and the massacre of 19, two of whom were U.S. Citizens, Kai Sorem from WA and Lyle Prijoles from Califonia. They were immersing with communities in Negros to learn first-hand about the daily hardships of peasant farming communities and their struggle for land and justice.

No U.S. citizen going home to the Philippines to learn from the most marginalized communities should face indiscriminate attacks and killings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which are violations of international humanitarian law.

To read and sign onto the letter visit: https://quill.senate.gov/letters/letter/38096/opt-in/view/b1ca968a-61c2-44b7-ab03-d090a08bc376/

For any questions about the letter you can contact Diego Antonio Sanchez Samayoa in Rep. Jayapal’s office: Diego.Sanchez@mail.house.gov.

Thank you and looking forward to hearing from your office,

[Sign your name]

Priority Legislators

Priority Targets for Legislative Engagement

The following spreadsheet contains a list of priority targets for legislative engagement. The priorities were determined by the following criteria:

  1. Past co-sponsor of the Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA)
  2. Signatories to the previous Dear Colleague letter released by Rep. Jan Schakowsky calling for the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Law in the Philippines
  3. Signatories to Senator Merkley's letter released on 1/14/26 urging the U.S. to Maintain Focus on Human Rights, Good Governance in Relationship with the Philippines
  4. Chantal's legislators in Maryland
  5. Members of key committees like the House Foreign Affairs Committee or Senate Foreign Relations Committee

To note:

Tier 1 - Primary targets

Tier 2 - Secondary targets

Even if your representative isn’t listed, it’s still important to engage them

Key Committees - check website to see if your representative sits on these key committees. Photos are only of those we have worked with

Key Legislators for Kai and Lyle’s representatives and home state districts

For Washington

  • Senator Patty Murray - Appropriations Committee
  • US Representative Adam Smith - Armed Services Committee

Links to find your Legislators

Reporting Form

Reporting Form

After you engage legislators, please fill out this report form so we can track the legislative engagement and determine next steps: tinyurl.com/Negros19ReportForm 

Resources

Resources