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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
February 2, 2026 | 12:11pm
Fil-Am activist Chantal Anicoche as seen in an undated Philippine Army 2nd Infantry Division photo release prior to her deportation to the United States.
Philippine Army 2nd Infantry Division
MANILA, Philippines — Chantal Anicoche, the Filipino-American activist held by the Armed Forces of the Philippines after a deadly New Year's Day bombing in Occidental Mindoro, has returned to the United States.
"I've spoken with Chantal and am pleased that she is back home and safe with her family," US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said in a statement on Saturday, January 31, as quoted in reports by US media. "Chantal and her family reiterated to me their request for privacy. But I know we are all relieved that she is safe."
Anicoche — who was in the Philippines for volunteer work with indigenous Mangyan communities and farmers — was reported disappeared January 1 after the AFP bombed an area in Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog.
Anicoche surfaced in a military video January 8, emerging from a hole where the Philippine military claimed she hid for eight days. Rights groups called the video staged and had demanded her immediate release, warning she'd face torture, interrogation, threats, and harassment in military custody.
She was "ordered to leave" and not deported, according to the Bureau of Immigration.
Relief mixed with anger over ordeal
Malaya Movement USA said they felt "profound relief that Chantal Anicoche is alive and finally safe," crediting the thousands who pressured the AFP into revealing they secretly had Anicoche in custody and then releasing her.
Filipino-American organizations mounted protests at Philippine consulates in New York, Washington DC, and Chicago to call for the young activist's release.
"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 like Chad Booc or survived the AFP like Jonila Castro," the group said in a statement, referring to activists who have previously died during AFP operations.
"As usual, the Philippine government's propaganda arm, the NTF-ELCAC, claims that Chantal, someone they captured in a military operation riddled with violations of International Humanitarian Law, is an enemy of the government," Malaya Movement said. "Even the Supreme Court of the Philippines has decried the practice of terror or red-tagging as a threat to life."
The AFP's 2nd Infantry Jungle Fighter Division released a statement Sunday, saying Anioche had been reunited with her mother on Friday, January 30, after she flew from the US straight to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. They both flew back to the US that night, according to the statement.
The January 1 bombing in Mindoro killed five civilians total, displaced 188 families, and prompted Karapatan to call for an independent investigation into alleged violations of international humanitarian law.
