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Jonas Burgos mother files writ of amparo


The continuing refusal of the military and police authorities to fully disclose all information on the alleged enforced disappearance of her son Jonas has prompted Dra. Edita Burgos Wednesday to ask the Court of Appeals to issue a writ of amparo. The petition would be raffled among the appellate court's 17 divisions in Manila, after which any of the parties may ask to consolidate the suit with the pending habeas corpus case still lodged with the Seventh Division. Under the newly promulgated rule on the use of the writ of amparo, "a general denial of the allegations in the petition shall not be allowed. In her 24-page petition, Burgos asked the CA to compel Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr and Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano and their subordinates to render "full and unrestricted cooperation" in submitting all statements, dossier and other documentary evidence pertaining to Jonas's abduction last April 28 at a restaurant inside a Quezon City mall. Failure to return the writ or to make a false return should be punished by contempt of court, the petitioner said. Burgos also asked the CA to be given access to all military personnel, regardless of rank, who may have knowledge of the disappearance and to be allowed to visit and inspect all military installation where Jonas may be located or had been held in custody at one time. She also asked the court to direct the Philippine National Police to pursue its investigation "in a more thorough and impartial manner" in summoning even military officials, both active and retired, for investigation. Petitioner also asked the CA to order the Commission on Human Rights to furnish her lawyers with copies of the statements and the stenographic notes of the testimonies of the military officials who were questioned by the commission in connection with Jonas disappearance. Burgos pointed out that all three investigating agencies - the AFP, PNP and CHR - already know the facts about the disappearance of Jonas. "They know who abducted Jonas, who ordered his abduction, why he was abducted and what they have done to him, whether he is still alive, where he is or where his body is buried. However, the three investigating agencies now appear to have conspired to cover up the truth," she said. She said that based on the evidence, she had reasons to believe that it was the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Norzagaray, Bulacan, through its commander Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano, who either ordered the abduction and either ordered or allowed Jonas's abductors to take the plate number TAB-194 from an impounded vehicle and to attach it to the maroon Toyota Revo, where he was loaded into. She said that this was corroborated by Hapag-Kainan restaurant security guard Larry Marquez. Petitioner also added that even AFP Provost Marshal Col. Arthur Abadilla admitted in a hearing at the CA that Feliciano committed a "boner," or a blunder, apparently in using property under his custody in the crime of abducting Jonas. "The AFP leaders' refusal to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation and to exercise extraordinary diligence in the performance of its official duties are, by themselves, sufficient grounds to issue the writ of amparo," Burgos said. As this developed, the Department of Justice said it will use as guide the report of United Nations Special rapporteur Philip Alston in coordinating government’s effort to prosecute and stop extrajudicial killings in the country. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, chair of the DOJ's "Task Force on Political Violence," said he will write Alston about the cases of extrajudicial killings committed by the Communist Party of Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and its progress. Blancaflor stood by the Palace's position that the killings were not part of official state policy. Alston insists that "the government itself is not engaged" in extrajudicial killings. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Blancaflor in behalf of the task force and the Lyceum of the Philippines College of Law through its Dean Pacifico Agabin was signed Wednesday to work out the mechanics of the task force, which will monitor the progress or developments of cases identified by the task force in involving political or extra-judicial killing. According to Blancaflor, the task force will formally inform the UN rapporteur about the human rights violations of the CPP, in particular the Albay incident involving a communist killing of an activist apparently adjudged guilty by a kangaroo court. The incident involved Expedito Ribaya, a local politician's bodyguard whom the NPA in Albay said was killed in an "arrest" operation conducted by guerrillas. Florante Orobia, spokesman of the NPA in Albay, said that Ribaya was one of those behind the murder of Bayan Muna provincial coordinator Rodolfo Alvarado, 53, a Bayan Muna party-list nominee. Among the matters taken up in the 63-page report by Alston included recommendations for "the CPP/NPA/National Democratic Front to stop using people's courts that do not comply with human rights and humanitarian law standards and should ensure that lethal force is directed only against combatants and civilians directly participating in hostilities." In his report, Alston also urged that the CPP/NPA/NDF "should repudiate statements that persons owe "blood debts," have "accountabilities to the people" or are subject to prosecution before people's courts." As of November 26, 2007, the task force is handling the monitoring, investigation and prosecution of 144 cases of extra-judicial killings. Some of the cases date back as far as 2001. Created by Administrative Order 211 last November 26, the task force was given by Malacañang the authority to harness and mobilize government agencies, political groups, the religious, civil society and sectoral organizations and the public for the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of political violence, the care and protection of people and communities victimized and threatened with violence, and the promotion of a culture opposed to violence and for the advancement of reconciliation and peace. The task force is composed of representatives from the DOJ, the Department of National Defense, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Office of the National Security Adviser, Office of the Political Adviser, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the Presidential Human Rights Committee and the Philippine Information Agency. - GMANews.TV

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