Fil-Am activist Chantal Anicoche found in Occidental Mindoro

Human rights group Karapatan on Friday raised questions over the rescue of Filipino-American activist Chantal Anicoche, who was reported missing after being caught in between an alleged encounter of the military and the New People's Army (NPA) in Occidental Mindoro on New Year's Day.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 203rd Infantry Brigade released a video of Anicoche's alleged rescue in the Abra de Ilog town on Thursday. 

"Tingin namin staged ang ginawang video ng incident ng recovery ni Chantal Anicoche kahapon," Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in Sandra Aguinaldo's report on "24 Oras."

(We believe Chanta Anicoche's recovery yesterday was staged.)

"Dahil sa ingay ng call para ilitaw si Chantal Anicoche—even reaching the authorities sa US government dahil US citizen si Chantal—napilitan na gawin yan ng mga nasa AFP," Palabay said.

(The military was forced to do that because the calls for her surfacing reached the US government.)

Anicoche, a 25-year-old community leader from Maryland, US, was in the province as part of a solidarity mission. She went missing after being caught in an alleged encounter between the military and the members of the NPA in the Abra de Ilog town on January 1.

Anicoche is currently in the custody of the military while undergoing debriefing and medical assessment.

"She is a person of interest, so we brought her here dito sa Camp Capinpin kasi pag ganiyang bagay may protocol na ginagawa. Her medical condition was assessed, and may psychosocial processing. She's okay; she's safe," Philippine Army 2nd Infantry Division spokesperson Colonel Michael Aquino said.

(She is a person of interest, so we brought her to Camp Capinpin. We have protocols to follow, but firstly, her medical condition was assessed. She also underwent psychosocial processing. She's okay; she's safe.)

"Wala pa tayong conclusive kasi ongoing pa ang debriefing at processing. But syempre usually naman pag ganyan, kung titingnan mo ang katulad na kaso, nagkakaroon talaga ng filing of cases," Aquino added.

(Nothing's conclusive yet because the debriefing and processing are ongoing. But usually this leads to the filing of cases.)

Doydora

Meanwhile, the mother of Jerlyn Rose Doydora, the student who died from illness during the encounter,  faced the media on Friday.

The younger Doydora was in Occidental Mindoro for research and volunteer work.

"Hanggang ngayon di kami makapaniwala," an emotional Merlinda Doydora said. 

(We still cannot believe it.)

Hands off our Children criticized some left-leaning groups for allegedly recruiting students into the NPA through the so-called "terror-grooming."

"Tingin namin ang akusasyon ng terror grooming ay isang paraan para supilin ang karapatan ng kabataan para sa critical thought," said Palabay.

(We think the accusations of terror grooming are a way to suppress the right of the youth to critical thinking.)  —Sundy Locus/VBL, GMA Integrated News