The Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands with our Filipino comrades to demand the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche from military custody, an end to de facto martial law on the island of Mindoro and an end to U.S.-backed violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the Philippines and around the globe.
Chantal – a 24-year-old Filipino American community leader – went missing after a bombing attack by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on New Year’s Day. One week later, on January 8, the AFP’s 203rd Infantry Brigade released a video showing them “finding” Chantal – visibly frightened – in the woods. She has remained in military custody since then.
We join the chorus of voices around the globe who are questioning the credibility of these videos. How is it that Chantal spent a week right under the AFP’s noses – less than half a mile from the site of their attack, if we believe their claims – before being found?
We are concerned for Chantal’s safety. The history of the AFP is a history of human rights abuses. Activists in their custody are routinely tortured, and many face fabricated charges based on planted evidence. The only way to ensure that Chantal is not subject to further harm is for the AFP to release her immediately and return her to her family and community.
Finally, we recognize that one of the basic problems faced by the Philippines is U.S. imperialism. The United States extracts natural resources and cheap labor from the Philippines and sends back guns and bombs for the AFP to turn on anyone who struggles for freedom. As revolutionaries in the United States, we stand in solidarity with the people of the Philippines in their struggle for national democracy.
That is why we join our Filipino comrades in demanding:
The immediate release of Chantal Anicoche!
Justice for the victims of the Cabacao Massacre!
Justice for the 188 families displaced by bombing!
An end to bombings, killings, and attacks in the Philippines!
An end to U.S.-backed violations of human rights in the Philippines and around the globe!
And an end to de facto martial law in Mindoro!
