[Resource] Release Chantal! Defend Mindoro
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Illegal and Inhumane Detainment of Filipino American Citizen
What happened?
On January 1, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) launched a brutal aerial assault on Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, violating international humanitarian law. Deploying 4 attack helicopters, the military dropped at least 12 bombs and conducted continuous strafing for hours, terrifying the local Mangyan and peasant communities. While the AFP justified the attack by claiming that it was an “encounter” with the New People’s Army (NPA), this incident caused massive displacement of 188 families, the deaths of 3 Mangyan children and injuries to their mother, and the death of 2 student researchers integrating in the community, including Kabataan Partylist Leader Jerlyn Rose Doydora. Chantal Anicoche, a Filipino youth community leader, went missing while integrating in Abra de Ilog at the time of the AFP’s attack. After collective outcry from friends, family, allies, and the international community to surface Chantal, she was found to be alive in custody of the AFP.
Who is Chantal Anicoche?
Chantal is a 24 year-old Filipino from Baltimore, Maryland. Born in the Philippines, Chantal moved together with her family to the United States in search of better economic opportunities. Chantal is a recent college graduate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and worked as a substitute teacher for the public school system in Maryland. She is now a U.S. citizen, but considered a “Balikbayan” under the Philippines’ Balikbayan Program given her original Philippine citizenship.
She lives in the U.S. now and is an American citizen. Why would she want to go back to the Philippines?
Ever since she was little, Chantal wanted to stay connected with her Filipino identity, and also understand why her family moved to the United States away from their family in the Philippines. In college, she was involved in her Filipino club and learned about many issues that Filipinos face. She took part in advocacy efforts to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines. After seeing the back-to-back typhoons in the Philippines last year, Chantal was inspired to pursue her passions and volunteer in the Philippines to learn from and help conduct relief work with rural communities directly impacted by environmental disasters and poverty.
Why is the AFP in Mindoro in the first place?
Mindoro is the 7th largest island in the Philippines, rich in valuable mineral and natural resources, and one of the top ten most important places in the world because of its biodiversity. The indigenous Mangyan people play a vital role in protecting the island from destruction caused by mining, illegal logging, and land grabbing to profit the rich. That’s why the AFP and Philippine government attack Mindoro in order to suppress dissent and displace communities who are fighting to protect their ancestral land—like we saw on January 1st—from greedy corporations and the rich and powerful in the Philippines. Mindoro is not an exception, this pattern of militarization and repression is happening all across the Philippines.
The AFP says that Chantal Anicoche is staying in military custody is voluntary and that she is safe. What’s the truth?
The Philippine government will take every opportunity to manipulate the public narrative so it can continue to act with impunity and undermine our efforts and concern. The AFP claims that its soldiers “rescued” Chantal, yet it was their battalions that bombed and killed people in the community, blocked fact-finding missions, and delayed public confirmation of her status. While the AFP released questionable footage of Chantal to the media and had later claimed that she signed an "intent to stay", we have not heard Chantal’s own free, direct, and un-coerced statement regarding her condition and well-being. These cirumstances only deepen concern over her detention, especially when there are many examples where the AFP has proved to use physical and psychological torture, like in the 2023 abduction case of environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro.
We’re in the U.S. I have my own problems. Why should we care?
Most Filipinos are suffering under these conditions, which force millions to migrate in search of survival. We are not different from Chantal. Many of us are outside the Philippines because of the same conditions of poverty, repression, and dispossession. Even for families who earn in dollars, life abroad is difficult and marked by sacrifice. And instead of helping Filipinos overseas, the Philippine government has also betrayed us—leaving us to fend for ourselves against issues like labor trafficking, wage theft, employer abuse, ICE detention, and so on—while making money off our remittances.
CALLS AND DEMANDS:
We call on Filipinos in the U.S. and our friends in solidarity to continue the fight to safely and immediately release Chantal and demand justice for those also impacted by the bombings—Jerlyn Doydora and the indigenous Mangyan community in Mindoro Occidental—especially as the AFP continues to deny the killings of Mangyan children, and the terror they inflict on the peoples of Mindoro as a whole.
Release Chantal Anicoche!
Justice for Jerlyn Doydora!
Justice for victims of the Cabacao Massacre!
Justice for the 188 families displaced by bombing!
Stop the bombings! Stop the killings! Stop the attacks!
End U.S.-backed violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Philippines!
End de facto martial law in Mindoro!
Sign on to the petition: tinyurl.com/chantal-petition
Take a selfie or video to share why we must #ReleaseChantal and amplify the call that #HindiKrimenUmuwi - it is not a crime to return home!
