I’m not a rebel, says Fil-Am activist

Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas on Wednesday denied that she was a rebel and the person in pictures and videos which supposedly prove that she is, or was in fact, a member of the outlawed New People’s Army (NPA). “I’m not (that person in the video). I reiterate, I am an activist. I am not a member of the NPA," said Roxas during an inquiry of the House Committee on Human Rights. Roxas made the statement after party-list Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) on Saturday presented pictures and video footage showing a woman undergoing an armed training in a forested area. ANAD Rep. Pastor Alcover Jr. claimed that the person in the pictures and video was Roxas at an NPA camp in Aurora province. [See: Activist Roxas a rebel, claims group linked to ‘Garci’ tapes] Roxas, a member of the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in the US, said that she was abducted and tortured in Tarlac province last May by armed men whom she later claimed to be members of the military. But Alcover asserted that Roxas was abducted not by the military but by her fellow communist rebels for wanting to leave the rebel group. Bantay party-list representative and retired Army general Jovito Palparan has also supported Alcover’s claim that Roxas was an NPA member. Firm denial Roxas, however, maintained that she was never involved with the rebel group. "I do not like to dignify the allegations being hurled at me now as they only echo what my abductors have been forcing me to admit during my interrogation and illegal, incommunicado detention," she said. In an affidavit she executed last June, Roxas said her abductors – some of whom she identified as RC, Dex, James, and a “Bossing" – repeatedly tried to make her confess into being an NPA member. Her legal counsel, Rex Fernandez, has also previously asked authorities and the public to look at what kind of people are hurling the allegations against his client. "How could you believe these people’s allegations? These two (Alcover and Palparan) are not credible persons," Fernandez earlier told GMANews.TV. Moreover, Fernandez claimed Roxas’ accusers were only waging a "proxy war of the AFP" against his client and that the video that Alcover presented did not prove anything. BELOW IS A COPY OF THE VIDEO
This matter, said the lawyer, has in fact prompted his client to file a petition for a writ of habeas data. The writ is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty, or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public or private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting, or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party. The court, justice, or judge may punish with imprisonment or fine a respondent who commits contempt by refusing to return and making a false return of the concerned data or information. Not convinced Despite the denial, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) information chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said he is convinced that Roxas is the woman shown in the video. “Si Melissa 'yun (That’s Melissa). This was also corroborated by statements of other rebel returnees," Brawner told GMANews.TV on Wednesday. Brawner also said that the AFP will help party-lists ANAD and Bantay in filing a case against Roxas. "If, indeed, she is proven to have connections with the NPA, we can file cases of attempted murder, arson, robbery, and extortion against her," he said. Brawner added that these latest developments on the case of the Filipino-American activist increased the possibility that Roxas’ alleged abduction and torture was “staged." “Maaaring ginamit lang (It’s possible that) Melissa (is being used) to destroy the image of the government and the military. Timing na timing din kasi (It’s just in time) before the President's SONA (State of the Nation Address) and meeting with US President (Barack) Obama," he said. Brawner nevertheless assured that the military is willing to cooperate with the CHR's on-going investigation on the Roxas case. A “side issue"? However, several lawmakers and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) emphasized that the “real" issue was not the identity of the activist but the ordeal she went through in the hands of her abductors. “It doesn’t matter, nobody deserves to be tortured, not even prisoners of war," CHR chief Leila De Lima told reporters after the inquiry. Both House Committee Chairman Lorenzo Tañada III and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman supported the sentiment of De Lima. “The allegations coming from anyone trying to destroy your credibility is not the issue, the issue is abduction and torture and we have to put a stop to this," said Tañada. “The fact is she was abducted and tortured, so we should just look into the abduction itself and find out who are the real perpetrators of this crime," added Lagman. - with Andreo Calonzo, GMANews.TV