If the two missing persons are under military custody, the military or police must disclose their whereabouts and let her condition be known.
BAGUIO CITY — Desaparecidos, an organization of families of victims of enforced disappearances urged state forces to surface two missing women, volunteer researcher Chantal Anicoche and National Democratic Front staff member Scarlet Lyn Gayo, who were reported missing in separate incidents.
Anicoche, 25, was last seen on January 1 in Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, where she was separated from her companions during a military operation in Mangyan-Iraya communities. She is a US-based psychology graduate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and has been visiting Indigenous areas affected by disasters and development projects.
“We call for the surfacing of Chantal Anicoche and for her rights to be upheld,” Desaparecidos chairperson JL Burgos said. The group condemned the state’s vilification of Anicoche who returned to the Philippines to reconnect with her roots.
“Let not Anicoche add up to the alarming number of victims of enforced disappearance,” Burgos said.
Desaparecidos also called for the disclosure of Gayo’s whereabouts. She was last seen on December 9, 2025 in Cavite. According to the NDF Cagayan Valley, Gayo had been on medical leave and was preparing to return to her unit when contact was lost. The group alleged that Gayo was abducted by state forces and coerced into cooperating in exchange for the dismissal of fabricated charges.
Burgos said that Gayo must be granted due process and that her disappearance violated international humanitarian law. He cited the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law, which classifies any concealment or delay in surfacing missing persons under custody as a crime.
“If the two missing persons are under military custody, the military or police must disclose their whereabouts and let her condition be known, or they should be held accountable for the crime of enforced disappearance. We say this from experience, that among the many desaparecidos, no member of the state forces was held accountable,” Burgos explained.
The group said that since July 2022, fifteen individuals have been reported abducted under the Marcos Jr. administration, with no state agents held accountable.
Burgos, brother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, called on the government to act on the cases of Anicoche and Gayo. (Reposted by Bulatlat) (DAA)
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