On January 1, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) initiated a brutal and indiscriminate attack on Abra de Ilog, Mindoro during which twelve bombs were dropped over the course of four hours. As a result, over 700 civilians were displaced and five individuals, including three indigenous Mangyan-Iraya children, were killed. In the wake of the attack, the AFP imposed a days-long military blockade, preventing local human rights organizations from retrieving the bodies of those killed and potentially providing urgent medical care. Among those affected was Chantal Anicoche, who was reported missing days after the bombing.

Anicoche is a Filipina youth leader from Baltimore, graduating from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. During her schooling, Anicoche served on the executive board of the Filipino American Student Association, during which she developed a deeper connection to her cultural heritage. Spurred to serve her people, Chantal went to the Philippines in late 2025 to learn directly from the Mangyan-Iraya community their issues and aspirations, especially in the face of environmental and economic hardship and the government’s militarization of Mindoro. We applaud Chantal’s commitment and ferocity for justice.

As healthcare workers, we are concerned by the physical and psychological toll of the AFP’s bombing on Anicoche. In the most recent video of Anicoche, she appears undernourished, disoriented, and avoids eye contact with AFP soldiers, seemingly out of fear. She speaks very softly and for short periods of time only; her body language is guarded. These observations lead us to believe Chantal is not well, despite claims by the military that she is healthy. We demand an immediate and thorough physical examination to determine if she has sustained internal or external injuries in the attack, evaluation of her emotional and mental state, analysis of any signs of nutritional deficits, and independent verification of her overall wellbeing by a healthcare professional outside the Philippine military.

To best recover from the traumatic military attack she survived, Anicoche must be released, not held in captivity by the military responsible for the deadly bombardment on January 1. The AFP has repeatedly violated the human rights and sabotaged the health of Filipinos through extrajudicial killings, torture, hours-long interrogations, and repeated threats and intimidation. We reject the January 11 statement published by the AFP on behalf of Chantal which states that she is "voluntarily" choosing to remain in custody; the military's record of threats, intimidation, and harassment of activists casts doubt on the validity of this statement and Chantal's so-called choice. We demand Chantal Anicoche’s immediate release from custody of the 203rd IB of the AFP to preserve her physical health and mental wellbeing.

Release Chantal Anicoche!
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!