Rights advocates slam barring of US pastor probing Negros killings

CABUYAO CITY, Laguna — Human rights advocates condemned the Philippine government’s decision to bar an American pastor from entering the country, calling it another attempt by the Marcos Jr. administration to shield alleged rights abuses from international scrutiny.

On May 12, 2026, Rev. Sadie Stone was prevented from entering the Philippines after arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for a humanitarian and fact-finding mission on the recent killings in Negros Occidental.

Stone, a United Methodist pastor, law student at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and member of the Global Council of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), was reportedly questioned by immigration authorities about her involvement with ICHRP and the campaign for justice for Brandon Lee, a Chinese-American activist who survived an assassination attempt in the Philippines in 2019.

The denial of entry came as Stone was set to join an international fact-finding mission investigating what human rights groups described as a massacre in Toboso, Negros Occidental, where 19 individuals were killed, including peasant advocates, a student leader, a journalist, and two Filipino-Americans.

“What really is there to fear about Rev. Sadie Stone?” asked Peter Murphy in a statement. “This appears to be another attempt of the Marcos Jr. regime to hide its war crimes from international eyes.”

Among those killed in the incident was Lyle Prijoles, a longtime community organizer from the San Francisco Bay Area and leader of ICHRP’s US chapter.

Initial findings from the mission that Stone was barred from joining showed that at least six of the victims, including Prijoles, were unarmed civilians. Investigators also documented alleged harassment and intimidation by state forces in surrounding communities before the killings.

According to the mission, military operations in the area included drone surveillance, house-to-house visits, and the alleged illegal detention of a 14-year-old boy and his mother during operations supposedly targeting the New People’s Army.

Murphy said the incident reflects the continuing culture of impunity under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., despite its public falling out with former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes are in a deadly conflict, but they are still united in deadly repression of the people who are hungry for land to till,” Murphy said.

Rights advocates also pointed to what they described as an intensifying pattern of blacklisting foreign human rights defenders under the Marcos Jr. administration. Since 2022, several US-based activists, including Copeland Downs, Gordon Mutch, and Julia Jamora, have likewise reportedly been denied entry into the country.

The growing restrictions come amid expanding military ties between the Philippines and the United States, including increased military aid, troop presence, and joint exercises.

For rights groups, the contrast is telling.

“Unfortunately, Marcos Jr. seems much more keen to welcome foreign military troops into the country than human rights advocates,” Murphy said.

Stone has joined solidarity and church missions to the Philippines since 2016 through the California-Nevada Conference Task Force of the United Methodist Church. She has also actively campaigned for justice for Brandon Lee and supported the proposed Philippine Human Rights Act, a measure seeking to suspend US military aid to the Philippines until human rights standards are upheld. (RTS, RVO)

The post Rights advocates slam barring of US pastor probing Negros killings appeared first on Bulatlat.