Our hearts feel profound relief that Chantal Anicoche is alive and finally safe. This would not have happened without thousands who acted to pressure the Philippine military into revealing they secretly had Chantal alive in their custody and then releasing her after 3 weeks of constant public outrage.

We also feel angry and disturbed that those 3 weeks were likely defined by physical and psychological torment, like many who were either killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) like Chad Booc or survived the AFP like Jonila Castro.

As Filipino educators and allies in the United States, we echo the calls to release Filipino American youth activist, Chantal Anicoche, from the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and safely return her to the United States. While a student leader at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Chantal learned about her identity, culture, and indigenous and environmental issues in the province of Mindoro, Philippines.

Malaya Movement USA is disgusted by the NTF-ELCAC's recent statement that is shamelessly posturing to care about the "safety" of Fil-Am Chantal Anicoche, who is illegally detained by the 2nd Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

It is outrageous that this very same government body that has sown nationwide terror and systematized red-tagging and attacks on human rights advocates and activists has the gall to claim that it is "committed to uphold human rights, due process, and transparency" when it has done nothing but the complete opposite.

Malaya Movement USA demands the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, who is being held without a legal cause by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Capinpin in Rizal.

We are enraged to learn that 24 year-old Chantal Anicoche, a Filipino-American former student leader based in Baltimore and steadfast advocate for the Philippines, was attacked by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the AFP launched an aerial bombing campaign on a civilian indigenous community on January 1, 2026 in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, where Chantal was staying as a researcher. She remains missing to this day.