Camp Capinpin, Rizal – Chantal Anicoche, a US citizen rescued by the military after a week of crossfire in Occidental Mindoro, is considered a “person of interest” in the fight against insurgency, an army spokesperson said on Friday, Jan. 9.
Col. Michael Aquino of the 2nd Infantry Division said Anicoche is under military custody and receiving treatment in a medical facility at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.
The 24-year-old Anicoche was born to Filipino migrant parents to the US, and arrived in Manila on Dec. 3 last year, the army said. She left the capital on Dec. 12 for Occidental Mindoro as among the recruits of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Aquino said.
“Nandun siya sa encounter site, sumama siya sa mga kasamang armado. And then American citizen siya. Nag-iisip tayo anong ginagawa ng American citizen dito sa Pilipinas,” Aquino said as he explained why Anicoche is considered a person of interest.
“Kung titingnan mo Amerikano ka, napakaganda ng buhay dun pero bakit nandito ka sa Pilipinas? Then may encounter, legitimate encounter. Bakit ka andun?” Aquino told reporters.
[TRANSLATION: She was found at the encounter site with an armed group. And she is an American citizen. We are thinking what could an American citizen be doing here in the Philippines under such circumstances.
If you’d think about it, you are an American with a good life there but you chose to be there. Then there was an encounter, a legitimate encounter. Why were you there?]
Anicoche graduated from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and earlier publicly expressed sentiments against US President Donald Trump, based on information gathered by the military.
In a video released by the army on Friday, she was found holed up in a pit half a kilometer from the conflict zone, a week since the firefight on Jan. 1. Anicoche was famished when she was found and given food and medical aid, the army said.
PARENTS: NO MORE LIES
That Jan. 1 encounter took the lives of two soldiers from the government side, and at least one student from state-run Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Jerlyn Doydora.
Another college student, Stephanie Borinaga, remains missing.
The mothers of Doydora and Borinaga faced journalists on Friday, with both saying they were clueless about their daughters’ ties with the rebels.
“She left on Dec. 23 saying she will go to Espana in Manila. Then I just learned later that she was in Mindoro when her ID came out in the news,” Gina Madis, the mother of Borinaga, said in Filipino.
“She just disappeared,” she said.
Merlinda Doydora, an overseas Filipino worker, said it is hard to accept her daughter’s ordeal after she raised Jerlyn in a sheltered environment.
“Baby na baby po namin siya,” Doydora’s mother said.
“Mula Kinder hanggang high school hatid-sundo. Matapos alagaan namin, pinalakad nyo lang sa bundok may sugat ang paa. Tapos iniwan nyo,” she narrated as she broke down in tears while condemning the NPA rebels.
[TRANSLATION: We took care of her like a baby. From Kinder to high school, she had a chauffeur. Then you forced her to scale the mountains and then just left her there.]
The mothers asked Anicoche to reveal the circumstances behind their recruitment by the NPA.
“I wanted to know if my daughter is still alive and safe,” Madis said.
“I hope she will cooperate with the military and tell the truth about what happened. I hope she will not lie,” Doydora said in Tagalog.
