MANILA, Philippines -- Fearing her 17-year-old daughter has been brainwashed by the military, Maria Gumanoy ran to the Supreme Court for help Monday to gain custody of Fatima Gumanoy, who chose to stay with her 21-year-old sister who has been held by the armed forces.

Maria filed a petition before the tribunal assailing the Court of Appeals' dismissal last week of her habeas corpus pleading to get Fatima from the military, after the teenager testified that she was not being held against her will and that she wanted to stay with sister Rose Anne Gumanoy.

The 21-year-old Rose Anne has been charged with rebellion and is with the military. She earlier appeared in a press conference to deny allegations by the human rights group Karapatan that she and her sister were abducted by the army.

She said she and Fatima left the Karapatan safe house and sought help from her soldier friends after her sister got sick.

Maria maintained that her daughters were kidnapped. Maria is the widow of slain peasant leader Eduardo Gumanoy, who was ambushed with Eden Marcellana in Mindoro. Rose Anne and Fatima are their children.

In her petition to the high court, Maria contested the appellate court's ruling that Fatima could choose where she wanted to go, citing her status as a minor, who should be under parental authority.

"The parental authority of the Petitioner is still intact and has not been waived and thus, she has all the right to have custody of the subject minor," Maria said.

She added that neither the director of the Fort Bonifacio General Hospital nor Army chief , Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado, have parental authority or any right over her daughter.

"The said Honorable Court erred in favor of despotism and tyranny and totalitarianism and against the Filipino value of family and love of the parents," she further said.

Maria also told the high court that the Court of Appeals denied her motion for a psychological evaluation of Fatima, and said the teenager was subjected to brainwashing and other psychological pressure that took away her freedom and capacity to make a decision.

The mother also said Fatima's situation showed that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, wherein the victim of an abduction would come to sympathize with her abductor.

At the hearing last week of the habeas corpus petition that Maria filed, Fatima told the justices during questioning that she was not being forced to stay at the Fort Bonifacio Hospital.

When asked, Fatima also said she would rather not go with her mother and that she did not want to leave her sister.

Fatima and Rose Anne, who were both at the hearing, were accompanied by military personnel.

The appellate court said that since Fatima was not illegally detained, the petition had to be dismissed. It also said Fatima could go where she wanted.