Human rights organizations are demanding the immediate release of 24-year-old Filipino-American community leader Chantal Anicoche, who surfaced in military custody days after an aerial bombing in Occidental Mindoro that reportedly killed at least five people, including three indigenous children.
On January 1, the military conducted an operation in Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, where four helicopters dropped at least 12 bombs and fired rockets at peasant and Mangyan communities. According to the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS), Chantal Anicoche went missing during this assault. She surfaced in a video clip on January 8 confirming her identity, after 203rd Infantry Brigade Commander BGen. Melencio Ragudo stated soldiers found her around 2 p.m.
The hours-long bombardment killed three Mangyan-Iraya children and injured their mother, according to Karapatan Southern Tagalog. Student researcher Jerlyn Rose Doydora, a member of Kabataan Partylist's General Secretariat, died after falling ill during forced evacuation. The attack displaced 188 families.
"The AFP must answer for Chantal's disappearance. Her safety is their responsibility, and every day she remains missing is a day of grave injustice," said Saara Rapisora, spokesperson for the humanitarian team of Karapatan Southern Tagalog.
Anicoche had traveled to Mindoro to learn from indigenous communities facing environmental destruction and militarization, said Edre Olalia, president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed the operation targeted New People's Army rebels, though FFPS said the guerrillas were observing a holiday ceasefire at the time.
Lawyers and activists argue the use of aerial firepower in civilian areas violates international humanitarian law. Olalia demanded Anicoche not face "any form of torture, interrogation, threat, harassment, and intimidation." Her rights "must be upheld at all times, and she should be released immediately," stated the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
The military has blocked human rights organizations and fact-finding missions from entering Cabacao to investigate. "Denying the humanitarian team access is not about security, it is about hiding their crimes," Rapisora added.
Karapatan has urged the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent investigation and called on United Nations mechanisms to monitor the situation. As a student leader based in Baltimore, United States, Anicoche is a "steadfast advocate for the Philippines" and helped push for the Philippine Human Rights Act, according to the Malaya Movement.
