Army alarmed over missing Fil-Am linked to armed group

The Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division expressed “grave concern” Tuesday for the safety of a Filipino-American woman believed to be with communist rebels, following the deaths of two other Americans in a recent clash.

Military officials identified the woman as Cristina Pasion, a member of Migrante International.

Pasion has reportedly been missing since late 2025 and was last seen with the New People’s Army (NPA) during armed encounters in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, in late March.

The military’s statement comes after the group Anakbayan-USA confirmed that two US citizens, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, were among those killed during a 19 April encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental.

Authorities said the two Americans entered the country in March and joined armed hostilities shortly after.

“These developments highlight a troubling pattern where foreign nationals are drawn into armed conflict, exposing them to immediate danger and irreversible consequences,” said Col. Michael Aquino, spokesperson for the 2nd Infantry Division.

Aquino urged the CPP-NPA to allow Pasion to leave the group and return to her family, warning that recruitment efforts often mislead overseas individuals into life-threatening situations.

In a separate statement Tuesday, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive director Ernesto C. Torres Jr. characterized the recruitment of foreigners and minors as a sign of the movement’s decline.

“The fact that they are now deploying children and even foreigners into armed encounters exposes the true state of the movement — it is no longer sustained by the Filipino masses,” Torres said.

The 19 April clash in Negros Occidental resulted in the deaths of 19 NPA fighters. Torres dismissed the presence of foreign nationals in the conflict as “exploitation” rather than international solidarity, alleging they are being used to “fill a dying movement’s ranks.”