California activist gun down by Filipino military at ‘terror’ camp was doing humanitarian work, friends claim

A southern California activist — who was recently killed by the Filipino military at a “terror” camp — was in the Philippines doing humanitarian work, according to those closest to him.

Friends and family of Lyle Prijoles said that he was part of a group that traveled back and forth to the country to advocate for underserved communities in the Philippines, and not a member of a far-left terrorist group killed in an armed military encounter, as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed.

Two Americans, Prijoles, a 40-year-old from Mira Mesa, and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, 26, were among 19 people recently killed during a raid on a militant communist hideout in the Philippines.

Prijoles and Sorem were suspected of being “terror-groomed” by a leftist rebel cell known as the New People’s Army (NPA) in Toboso and were killed when troops from the Filipino military descended on their hideout April 19, according to the Filipino government.

Prijole’s wife, Marienne Cuison, disputes the narrative around her husband’s death and said that he was a “quiet, but very caring” man doing work to help people in that country in an interview with NBC 7 from the Philippines.

“He was advocating for the Philippine Human Rights Act to be passed. He also would teach others what’s happening here.”

Cuison added, “The narrative that it was a conflict or an encounter, I think, is one-sided. So, I actually fully disagree.”

Prijoles previously attended San Francisco University, where a vigil was recently held for him.

“He just loved people,” former SFU classmate Melissa Reyes said at the vigil. “I think he loved the Filipino people so much.”

She also told the outlet. “I know Lyle and that’s not what he was there for.”

Another friend, Brandon Lee, said that his friend “helped organize events to bring” him back from the country when he said he was targeted while living in the Phililppines.

“Now, I’m doing the same, organizing events to bring him back home and remember Lyle and call for justice for him. “

Cuison said she “would just like people to know more about what he fought for and what he stood for.”

“And how he would go back to the Philippines, really to, integrate and learn more from the, the poorest of the poor and help them in any way he could.”

The radical “anti-fascist’’ Malaya Movement said on its Web site that Prijoles “was a Filipino American born in San Diego and community organizer in the Bay Area.

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“Lyle gave back to the Filipino American community through his love for his family, his activism as a student, his involvement in the arts and cultural work, and his human rights advocacy,” it said of the man, who some outlets reported was 40 years old.

A GoFundMe has been set up to bring Prijole’s body home to San Diego.

“Lyle is remembered through his advocacy within the Filipino community,” a message read.

“He traveled to the Philippines to learn and understand directly from the communities in Negros Occidental. His legacy lives on through the stories he’s been able to share and the dedication to raising awareness of the hardships faced by communities in the Philippines.”