By Diego Morra
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan USA and Migrante USA have condemned what it described as the fascist terror unleashed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on Jan. 1, 2026 that killed five persons, including Jerlyn Rose Doydora, a student of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and another student, and three Mangyan children, whose mother was also injured, while 188 families in a Mangyan community were displaced.
“In a clear violation of international humanitarian law, the military deployed four attack helicopters that dropped no less than 12 aerial bombs followed by continuous aerial strafing for several hours, terrorizing the peasant and indigenous Mangyan communities living there. The AFP claims the attack was part of a so-called ‘encounter’ with the New People’s Army (NPA), despite the NPA’s declaring a ceasefire lasting from Dec. 25 to 26 and from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 2026. It is clear that the Philippine government is just trying to hide its bloody crimes against the Filipino people,” BAYAN USA and Migrante USA declared.
The two organizations also demanded that AFP produce Chantal Anicoche, a Filipino community leader from the United States, who was present in Abra de Ilog at the time of the AFP’s attack. “Until now, Chantal remains missing. As someone deeply passionate about Indigenous and environmental issues, Chantal chose to go to the Philippines to learn directly from the Mangyan community their issues and aspirations, especially in the face of economic hardship and the government’s militarization of the island. We demand the immediate surfacing of Chantal, whose whereabouts and condition are most certainly being covered up by the Philippine military to avoid public condemnation,” they said.
Chantal is a 25-year-old Filipina and recent BS Psychology graduate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and a leader of the Filipino American Student Association (FASA). In FASA, Chantal connected with other Filipinos about their shared identity, culture, and lived experiences. She also learned about the many issues the Filipino community faces, both in the US and in the Philippines. Chantal was especially drawn to environmental and farmers’ and Indigenous peoples’ issues in the Philippines. She also worked as a teacher even as she continued her advocacy with the Philippine Human Rights Act campaign and supported the rights of Indigenous peoples and farmers in the Philippines. Eventually, Chantal volunteered to conduct relief work with rural communities directly impacted by environmental disasters and poverty in the Philippines, like the communities of Abra de Ilog.
“The Philippine government — through its lapdogs in the military and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) — continue to block fact-finding teams from investigating the full extent of their crimes in Abra de Ilog. They are actively preventing Chantal’s loved ones and her entire Filipino community here in the US from knowing whether she is safe and well. We demand the immediate surfacing of Chantal Anicoche. We demand an immediate end to the AFP’s blockade preventing the truth from coming out and humanitarian assistance from coming in to the affected communities. We demand the military out of Mindoro and an end to de facto martial rule over the island. And we demand an end to US funding and support for the Marcos regime’s crimes against the people,” Bayan USA and Migrante USA said.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Mindoro (NDFP-Mindoro) meanwhile said Doydora “suffered a fatal attack” during the military bombing operation and relentless strafing by four helicopter gunships. Doydora was with other youth volunteers who requested to conduct research among farmers, indigenous communities as well as revolutionary forces in the area. She was a member of PLM’s College of Education Student Council. NDFP-Mindoro extended its condolences to Doydora’s family and called for the immediate suspension of military and police operations to allow the retrieval of her remains. “To ensure her family can recover her remains, the (NPA) unit decided to lay her body in the area where she died,” NDFP’s statement read.
Apparently, the AFP did not respect the NPA’s ceasefire as the Philippine Army’s 203rd Infantry Brigade fired missiles from attack helicopters starting at 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, wreaking terror even among residents who had videos of the bombing and strafing. The unprovoked aerial attack supported the assault by hundreds of soldiers belonging to the Army’s 1st and 76th Infantry Battalions and the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion that attacked the NPA in the area starting at 6:30 a.m. The NDFP said the bombardment was “indiscriminate” and endangered civilians celebrating the New Year with the NPA. Residents could be heard begging for the hostilities to stop in their videos of the incident posted online. The NDFP urged human rights advocates and civic groups to press for a humanitarian corridor and to investigate the impact of the military operation on affected communities.
Previous clashes between the AFP and the NPA in Mindoro Island have led to the deaths of several soldiers, including military officers, prompting the deployment of more troops in Occidental Mindoro, along with artillery units and warplanes. Moreover, Mangyan community leaders are being hunted by the military and the NTF-ELCAC, which has seen its 2026 budget bloated to P8.1-billion to sustain its campaign of red-tagging, community intimidation and coercion of residents to denounce revolutionary forces that have gained headway in the island. The intensified military campaign in Mindoro has spawned a flood of human rights violations, with 16,733 victims recorded from January 2025 to November of 2025. Wholesale human rights violations became the tactic of the Duterte regime after it issued Memorandum Circular No. 32 that institutionalized joint military and police operations in Bicol, Negros Island, and the Samar provinces in 2018. During the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regime, enforced disappearances and summary executions became de rigueur for the bloody administration. #