Despite confirmation from the National Democratic Front (NDF) that a student who went missing during the New Year’s Day clash between government forces and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Occidental Mindoro was found dead, a human rights group said it continues to search for her whereabouts.
In a statement posted on its social media account on Tuesday, left-leaning group Karapatan–Southern Tagalog called on the military to surface and ensure the safety of Chantal Anicoche. The group also released a photograph of the missing student.
According to Karapatan-ST, Anicoche went missing after she was separated from her companions when the military conducted a series of bombings and aerial strafing during the encounter in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro.
The human rights group said Anicoche was among students who joined an immersion with farmers and Mangyan indigenous communities in the area.
Earlier, NDF-Mindoro spokesperson Ma. Patricia Andal confirmed the deaths of two students from Metro Manila who participated in an immersion with the NPA in Mindoro. She identified one of the fatalities as Jerlyn Rose Doydora, a member of the General Secretariat of Kabataan Party-list, and said the other was the previously missing student, whom she did not name.
Andal said villagers found the body of the missing student two days after the encounter, along with the remains of three Mangyan children.