Yesterday, the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) released videos surfacing Chantal Anicoche, a Filipina community leader from the US. Chantal was previously missing in the wake of the 203rd IB’s bombing, indiscriminate strafing and attacks in the indigenous Mangyan community of Brgy. Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro.
In the videos, she appeared scared and possibly under duress as soldiers seemingly found, surrounded and interrogated her before bringing her to the camp of the 76th Infantry Battalion. Human rights workers and migrant advocates are looking into the current whereabouts and condition of Chantal following the release of the videos.
We find questionable the circumstances of the AFP’s videos of Chantal. It is suspicious that the AFP would find Chantal in an announced clearing operation one week into their overkill occupation of the small Sitio Mamara in Brgy. Cabacao. We are also concerned with remarks of soldiers looking for guns or explosives in the vicinity where they supposedly found Chantal. These sorts of remarks may be used as a pretext to fabricate charges of illegal possession of firearms and/or explosives against her.
Given the military’s overwhelming blockade of Sitio Mamara, the public cannot ascertain whether the videos of the AFP discovering Chantal were staged or otherwise. There is a possibility that rather than finding Chantal on January 8, 2PM, the military had already taken Chantal during their bombing and ground operations in Brgy. Cabacao. The alarm raised by human rights and migrant groups on Chantal’s disappearance starting January 6 may have prompted the 203rd IB to surface her through a possibly staged incident in an attempt to avoid suspicions that they held Chantal from the public for days on end.
We cannot forego the possibility of a staged video given the track record of the AFP to obfuscate the circumstances of other activists whom they forcibly disappeared. From Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro to Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha: state forces are not only known to abduct and disappear activists but even hide and deny the fact, even after they are surfaced.
The AFP and the Marcos Jr. regime must put an end to this charade. The truth of Chantal’s condition and whereabouts must come out. We assert that Chantal is a civilian with no case against her and there is no reason for the Philippine state to continue holding her under custody. She should be given immediate access to human rights groups to ensure her safety, integrity, and the protection of her rights and welfare while in military custody. We demand her immediate release to her loved ones and community. #ReleaseChantal
