Army men surface, deny hand in Jonas abduction

Five Philippine Army officers and personnel implicated in the abduction of Jonas Joseph Burgos on Monday showed up before police investigators at Camp Crame and denied any involvement in the incident that transpired exactly a month ago. Director Geary Barias, chief of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), said in a statement that Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano, Lt. Col. Noel Clement, Lt. Col. Edison Caga, Cpl. Castro Bugalon and Private First Class Jose Villena issued their statements to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group–National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR). Barias said CIDG-NCR chief Senior Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel reported that the five denied they have anything to do with the abduction of Burgos on April 28 from a restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. While Bugalon and Villena admitted they were responsible for the impounding of an Asian utility vehicle in June 2006 that bore the license plates (TAB-194) found on the car used to abduct Burgos, "they averred that they never used the vehicle and just turned it over to the 56th Infantry Battalion headquarters" in Norzagaray, Bulacan. Colonel said that the two claimed apprehending Mauro Mudlong's AUV on June 24 last year in Norzagaray "for allegeldy transporting illegally-cut forest products." "They also claimed having no knowledge of how the license plates disappeared," Coronel said, pointing out that the two "presumed that (the AUV) had been there (at the 56th IB headquarters) all the while." The same claim was made by Clement, who admitted having Bugalon and Villena under his command, although "he presumed that it (license plates) might have been stolen when the entire battalion left the station for field training maneuvers in November to December 2006." Caga, who took charge of the headquarters facility when the 56th IB was out, has yet to explain his side, as well as Feliciano, the incumbent 56th IB commander. Nonetheless, Barias said "all five officers and enlisted men expressed willingness to submit themselves to further investigation and confront witnesses against them." In fact, despite their denial, Bugalon and Villena will still be presented to some witnesses soon for identification purposes whether or not they were among those who snatched Burgos and his two companions. "This gesture of cooperation by the Philippine Army leadership in the ongoing investigation is most welcome," Barias said. Even as the investigation has yet to wrap up, the family of Burgos and their supporters are convinced that the agriculture trainer is in the hands of the military, based on the license plates' piece of evidence. Last Friday, the family and supporters of Burgos, including former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr, were treated disrespectfully by the military when they rallied in front of the Camp Aguinaldo gate on Santolan Road, Quezon City by blasting them with loud music that drowned the calls and sentiments of the demonstrators. Burgos is a son of the late icon of Philippine press freedom, Jose Burgos. - GMANews.TV