Local groups mourn Pierce County activist killed in Philippine attack
Kai Dana Sorem, a Filipina activist from Steilacoom, was one of two U.S. citizens killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier this month in a raid on an alleged communist stronghold. She was 26 years old.
On April 19 and 20, the AFP attacked several villages across Toboso, a municipality in the province of Negros Occidental. The forces killed 19 people, including Sorem, and displaced 168 families.
The Philippine military referred to the attack as a “legitimate armed encounter” against guerillas from the New People’s Army, the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
But local human rights groups and activists from around the world have a different word for the incident: massacre.
“They were all murdered simply for immersing with communities to learn from their struggles against land grabbing, development aggressions and militarism,” a press release from Anakbayan, a national student-led Filipino protest movement, said.
Claudia Cabellon, chairperson of the local chapter of Filipino coalition Malaya Movement, said since the announcement of Sorem’s death, the organizing community has been “deeply grieving.”
“So many people have been touched by Kai because she made it a point to dedicate every second of her time, of her life and skills to being among the people,” Cabellon said.
Sorem grew up in Steilacoom, and was known for her gentle, warm personality as well as her dedication to fighting for the Filipino community.
While she studied to be a music instructor at Central Washington University in 2020, she saw parallels in George Floyd’s murder and the oppressive regime of Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, the release said.
Inspired to be part of the change, Sorem was one of the founding members of Anakbayan South Seattle, serving as its first Solidarity Officer.
She weaved her love for music into community organizing, performing and teaching revolutionary music that reflected the struggle of the Filipino people.
Her activism also included serving as an advisor for a Seattle high school’s Filipino club, working in a care home, door-knocking in migrant working-class neighborhoods and countless other activities that brought her closer to the community.
In 2025, Sorem traveled to the Philippines to live among the peasants and fisher folk in rural Cebu, the release said. There she witnessed her people’s plight firsthand and aspired to return someday.
This spring, she returned to continue immersing herself in the community and deepen her knowledge of her culture, the release said.
“Kai was not a terrorist,” Cabellon, said. “These people were activists, they were journalists, they were land defenders. These were peasant youth.”
Shortly before Sorem left this year, she spent a few months in Tacoma. Cabellon fondly remembers having late-night hangouts with Sorem playing Filipino music together.
“We would just go to 1 a.m. singing and going through a songbook that we use,” Cabellon said. “When we would mess up, she would laugh and do a silly jig or just fall to the ground. It was really cute and sweet.”
Abram Diaz, a member of Anakbayan South Seattle, met Sorem shortly after he moved to Seattle in 2022. She was instrumental in helping him find his footing in local grassroots organizing, Diaz said.
“She has been described as a very thoughtful, gentle, soft-spoken person, but she was also a very firm leader and always willing to draw out and challenge us to also be stronger leaders,” Diaz said.
In the wake of the community's loss, organizers are strengthening their movement in Sorem’s honor. They’ve sent a contingent from Washington State to confront Philippine President Bongbong Marcos in New York City, and plan on organizing a Tacoma-based vigil, Cabellon said.
“Whenever they take one of us, and when they take 19 of us, there will be hundreds or thousands that are ready to have their back and not stop fighting,” Diaz said.
