Priest seeks help to find 'abducted' teenager in Quezon

A Franciscan priest in Quezon province is appealing to local residents for information that would lead to the finding of a Dumagat tribe teenager allegedly abducted by armed men recently. Fr. Pete Montallana said Demer Morada had not been seen or heard from since Aug. 24, when he failed to return home to Bonifacio village in Burdeos town. “Morada was last seen in Pegitna at 2 a.m. of August 24, wearing yellow green sleeveless shirt, cream corduroy short pants, and blue rubber sandals when he was taken into a boat by the armed men," said a report posted Wednesday night on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. Montallana has been working with the Agtas (a tribal group) for 18 years in the area. He cited testimonies by witnesses who said that at least six armed men, allegedly members of the military, may have had something to do with Morada’s disappearance. “Demer’s case calls on me personally to become more vigilant and to ask people to be more vigilant. We cannot allow those who use our taxes to violate our rights. No genuine change will happen until the poor and the oppressed are conscienticized," he said. Meanwhile, Montallana appealed to authorities for a thorough and independent investigation in the possible “enforced disappearance" of Morada, and to ensure his family’s safety. He said Morada’s family and relatives are poor and uninformed of their rights. They do not even have a picture of Morada which the media has been asking them to produce, he said. “If not for their connection with the Church through the Indigenous People’s Apostolate of the Diocese of Infanta and the Franciscans, Demer’s abduction would just be simply be forgotten," he said. — LBG, GMA News