Philippine and US groups call for Chantal Anicoche’s release
We hereby share a report published by the Philippine Revolution Web Central (PRWC).
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) USA and Migrante USA are calling for the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, one of the young researchers who went to Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro during the Christmas season. She is currently under AFP [Editor’s note: Armed Forces of the Philippines] custody and detained at Camp Mateo Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal.
On January 8, Karapatan-led progressive groups protested at the Department of Defense to condemn the military’s bombing in Abra de Ilog and to demand Anicoche’s immediate release. Progressive groups also held a protest at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City on January 9.
On January 10, ACT Teachers Partylist representative Antonio Tinio, Liza Maza, Migrante International members, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, and Karapatan Southern Tagalog went to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal to check her condition, but they were not allowed to enter. At the same time, they held a protest outside the camp.
On the same day in the US, Bayan-USA Northeast members and the Filipino community protested outside the Philippine Consulate office in New York City. They earlier sent a letter to Consul General Senen T. Mangelile to request a meeting with him to urge the Philippine government to release Anicoche from military custody.
Bayan USA and Migrante USA also launched a signature campaign for the immediate release of Anicoche and justice for Jerlyn and all victims of human rights violations in Mindoro.
Anicoche, 24, has a BS in Psychology degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She was a former leader of the Filipino American Student Association, an organization of Filipino student youth in the university. She had been active in the campaign to pass the Philippine Human Rights Act and to advance the rights of Philippines’ indigenous peoples and peasants.
The relentless campaign of youth organizations, human rights advocates, and the Filipino community in the US demanding that the AFP surface Anicoche, forced the 203rd IBde to release a video showing that she was “found” in a pit, 500 meters from the bombing site on January 8.
According to the groups, the credibility of the video released by the military is doubtful. The footage shows Anicoche appearing scared, confused, and stressed, surrounded by soldiers “searching” for bombs and guns and asking about her identity. They said the soldiers’ statements in the video are alarming because they could be used as grounds to file fabricated charges such as illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Moreover, if she was indeed found near the site, why did it take a week before she was located? And why is the military preventing human rights organizations from conducting their own fact-finding mission? At present, the military refuses to release her, claiming she is a “person of interest” in the insurgency.
The possibility that the military had been holding Anicoche all along should not be dismissed, and that the video was staged and released only because of the widespread international attention to her disappearance. Their concern for Anicoche’s safety is valid, especially since the AFP has decades of recorded human rights violations. These include planting evidence to fabricate charges, said Bayan USA and Migrante USA.
According to Migrante International, the AFP must stop pretending to be Anicoche’s “rescuer” and respect her right to consult a lawyer regarding her detention. “She must not be subjected to any form of torture, interrogation, threats, coercion, or intimidation by any AFP unit.”
Karapatan, on the other hand, called on the Commission on Human Rights and independent and international organizations to conduct an independent investigation into Anicoche’s situation and the human rights violations that occurred at the start of the new year in Abra de Ilog.
