The Philippine Army has rejected allegations that government troops abducted former University of the Philippines Diliman student leader Faye Margarette Tallow, describing the claims as “baseless” and part of a longstanding propaganda tactic by rebel groups.
“These are all old deceptive tactics and baseless allegations of the CPP/NPA/NDF intended to discredit our security forces and their security operations, and to mislead the public,” Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala told Manila Standard.
He also urged the public not to be deceived by “misinformation or propaganda without verified information.”
The Army also identified Tallow, who allegedly went by the aliases “Tanya” and “Nadia,” as a member of a rebel unit facing a standing arrest warrant for attempted homicide issued by a court in Quezon province.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol backed the Army’s account, confirming that a woman identified by the alias “Fatima” was arrested in a joint military-police operation on September 6 in Barangay Malasugui, Labo, Camarines Norte.
The PNP said the 29-year-old suspect is a member of the NPA’s Platoon Reymark, SRMA-4B, and a resident of Cainta, Rizal.
She faces an attempted homicide case filed in 2020, with a recommended bail of ₱36,000, and is now in police custody for legal proceedings.
Police said the operation reflects the government’s continuing effort to “weaken the remnants of the communist terrorist group and ensure its members are held accountable before the law.”
The UP Diliman University Student Council (USC), however, condemned what it called the abduction of Tallow by the 16th Infantry Battalion of the Army.
The USC claimed Tallow, a former chairperson of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights – UP College of Mass Communication (STAND UP CMC), was taken from her home in Barangay Malibago, Labo, on the night of September 4.
It described Tallow as a community organizer who worked with farmers in Bicol and said her whereabouts remain unknown.
The council linked her case to what human rights group Karapatan has counted as the 16th enforced disappearance under the current administration.
“Ilitaw si Faye Tallow! Militar sa kanayunan, palayasin!” the USC said.
