MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 3) Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas, 32, has surfaced here hours ago, the United States chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan USA), said in a statement Monday.

Bayan USA, an alliance of 14 Filipino social justice organizations across the US, however, noted that Roxas’s companions when she was abducted in Tarlac last week remain missing.

“A detailed account about the circumstances of her surfacing is still forthcoming,” the statement said.

“We are happy to hear about Melissa's surfacing, but we are still concerned about the whereabouts of her two companions, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc, who were abducted along with Melissa on May 19th and are still missing to this day,” said Bayan USA chairperson Bernadette Ellorin.

“We fully intend to pursue the demand for the surfacing of Carabeo and Handoc, as well as justice for Melissa. This abduction should never have taken place,” Ellorin said.

Earlier, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will dispatch a team to conduct a fact-finding mission on Roxas, Carabeo, and Handoc.

Lawyer Flora Atilano, director of the CHR legal and investigation office, told the House committee on human rights during a hearing that investigators would start their work tomorrow to look into the disappearances.

The committee was conducting an inquiry into the extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations in Southern Tagalog. Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tanada III, the chairman of the committee, mentioned Roxas’s case and asked the CHR to look into it.

Because Roxas is an American citizen, Tanada also said that the United States embassy would be interested on the case.

But the US embassy is closed for the day, as Americans celebrate Memorial Day. Rick Nelson of the embassy’s public affairs office said the kidnapped victim’s family did not inform them about the abduction.

Roxas, an American citizen of Filipino descent, was abducted last May 19 at around 1:30 p.m. in Sitio (sub-village) Bagong Sikat, Barangay (village) Kapanikian, La Paz, Tarlac with Carabeo and Handoc.

Roxas is a member of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-USA and the cultural group Habi Arts in Los Angeles, California

Quoting the human rights group Karapatan and the La Paz police, Bayan said Roxas and her companions were taken by at least eight fully-armed, bonnet-clad men on board two motorcycles and a Besta van without any plate numbers.

Roxas is the first case of a Fil-Am activist to be abducted by suspected state security forces Bayan said.

“We are outraged that these abductions continue despite repeated condemnation here and abroad,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement.