01/07/2026
Repost from .baltimore
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‼️URGENT‼️ SURFACE CHANTAL ANICOCHE! DEFEND MINDORO!
Chantal Anicoche, a Filipino‑American community organizer, was immersing with farmers and Indigenous Mangyan in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. During the AFP’s bombings on January 1, she was separated from her group and remains missing.
On January 1, the Armed Forces of the Philippines launched a major attack on Barangay Cabacao in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. In a clear violation of international humanitarian law, four attack helicopters dropped at least twelve bombs, followed by hours of aerial strafing, terrorizing the peasant and Indigenous Mangyan communities.
The AFP’s attacks killed 3 Mangyan children, injured their mother, and forcibly displaced 188 families from the area. It also led to the death of at least 2 student researchers who had been integrating with the Mangyan community to more deeply understand their conditions. One of these youth was Jerlyn Rose Doydora, a leader with Kabataan Partylist, who died from an illness while trying to escape from the relentless bombing in the area.
Chantal Anicoche is a 25‑year‑old Fil‑Am community leader and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) graduate who was deeply involved in Filipino student organizing and advocacy. Through the Filipino‑American Student Association (FASA), she connected with other Filipinos around shared identity and the issues facing Filipino communities in the U.S. and the Philippines. Her commitment to environmental, farmers’, and Indigenous peoples’ struggles was shaped by her family’s own experiences of economic hardship.
Driven by her commitment to Indigenous and environmental issues, Chantal traveled to the Philippines to learn directly from the Mangyan community amid worsening economic hardship and militarization. She was present in Abra de Ilog during the AFP’s January 1 attack and has been missing ever since. There is an urgent demand for her immediate surfacing, as her whereabouts and condition are being blocked from public view.
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