Japan Group Releases Report on Killings in Philippines

3. Jonas Burgos Case

(1) Abduction

On April 28, Jonas Joseph Burgos was abducted by three men and a woman from the Ever Gotesco Mall on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. He remains missing. He is the son of the late publisher Jose “Joe” Burgos, a known press freedom fighter during the Marcos regime. Burgos, a member of the leftist Peasants’ Movement of the Philippines, had conducted a farming seminar on the day he disappeared. He was later to meet family members but never showed up and did not answer calls to his mobile phone. To date, Burgos’ abduction is the most high-profile in a series of attacks on left-wing activists.

The Army was linked to the abduction after the license plate of a Toyota Revo into which Burgos was bundled was traced to a jeep seized in 2006 by a joint team from the Army and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and since then has been parked inside the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Despite an order from the Supreme Court, the military has failed to produce the missing activist, insisting that communist rebels, not soldiers, were involved in the abduction.

(2) Investigation

On July 9, 2007, Senior state prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco head of the panel investigating the disappearance of Jonas Burgos ordered an investigation of military intelligence agents and two other officers suspected of involvement in the abduction. He clearly pointed out that the military were involved with the abduction.

Velasco had asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate (1) Army Technical Sergeant Jason Roxas, (2) Air Force Corporal Maria Joana Francisco, (3) Air Force Master Sergeant Aron Arroyo (PAF), and (4) a certain alias T.L., all detailed with the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) 15 of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP); (5) Army 1st Lieutenant Jaime Mendaro, reportedly assigned to the 56th IB; and (6) Lieutenant Colonel Noel Clement, formerly of the 56th Infantry Battalion and presently assigned with the Escort and Security Battalion of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio.

They were summoned for questioning on the basis of the allegation of the informant that he has seen them at the crime scene when Burgos was forcibly taken.

However, he was relieved on July 11, two days after the issuance of his abovementioned order, by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as head of the panel investigating the disappearance of the Burgos case. 122

(3) Current Status

In December 2007, the Court of Appeals has issues a writ of amparo in the case of Jonas Burgos, a day after his mother filed a petition for amparo to get the military to account for Burgos’ disappearance.　The appellate court ordered the respondents, led by Armed Forces Chief General Hermogenes Esperon, to file a return, or an official report in response to the writ in five days. To date, however, Mr. Burgos has not yet released.

Ⅶ Impunity

The UN Special Rapportuer Mr. Alston recommended that a significant number of convictions in the case of extrajudicial killings should be achieved. To do so, he recommended that the Supreme Court, Commission on Human Rights and Task Force USIG issue monthly reports of the status of cases of extrajudicial killings.123

HRN is in the same view as Mr. Alston. In order to restore justice and prevent future human rights violations, a significant number of convictions must be achieved based on thorough investigation of the extrajudicial killings.

However, while the Task Force USIG reported there are several convictions on the killing of media people, local human rights group claims that no single conviction has been achieved regarding the extrajudicial killings.124

HRN has not seen any monthly report publicly issued by the Supreme Court, Commission on Human Rights and Task Force USIG in terms of their activity on extrajudicial killings after Mr. Alston’s recommendation.125 At least, HRN is aware that there is no conviction on the cases that the HRN fact-finding mission investigated. As a result, the perpetrators enjoy impunity.