DOJ vows prosecution in Burgos kidnapping

(Updated 6:12 p.m.) The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday vowed to bring closure to the abduction case of political activist Jonas Burgos in 2007, days after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) released a report identifying a Philippine Army officer as the person behind crime. DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima said her department will secure a copy of the CHR report and file charges against those responsible for Burgos’ forced disappearance. “We will ask for a copy of CHR’s findings and will act accordingly, with end in view of prosecuting those responsible for the abduction of Jonas Burgos," she said in a text message on Sunday. In a report to the Supreme Court last week, the CHR identified 1st Lt. Harry Baliaga Jr. of the Army's 56th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Bulacan province as the “principal by direct participation in the abduction of Burgos." Burgos, son of the late journalist and staunch anti-dictatorship fighter Jose Burgos, was abducted April 28, 2007 allegedly by military personnel while he was having lunch at a restaurant inside the Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. De Lima, who served as CHR chairperson before heading the DOJ, said she was “glad" that “one of the most important cases of enforced disappearance" will finally get closure. “I’m glad that the case is on its way to closure, as what our country and the whole world have been waiting for," she said. Return Jonas alive Burgos’ mother, Edita, meanwhile appealed to the government to make sure that her son is recovered alive. Mrs. Burgos lauded the CHR’s “exhaustive" probe on her son’s abduction, while calling on President Benigno Aquino III to “allow (her) son to return to his family." “While we seem to have won this battle, the real measure of success is the recovery of my son. We shall continue the fight until Jonas is returned to us, alive and well and justice is served," she said in a statement on Sunday. She likewise expressed hope that more witnesses will surface to shed light on Jonas’ forced disappearance. “We appeal to those who had a hand in the abduction and the continued detention of Jonas, to come clean and face the consequences of their actions. It is better to make right a wrong that has been done while one still has the capacity to do it," she said. Mrs. Burgos also urged the President to use his power as military commander-in-chief and order the Armed Forces’ leadership to release all documents related to her son’s disappearance. -Sophie Dedace and Andreo Calonzo, GMA News/KBK