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MANILA, Philippines – The abduction of activist Jonas Burgos is one of the priorities of the superbody created by the Palace to address cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday, April 19, that the case of Burgos is one of the 101 priority cases that the inter-agency body would handle.
She said while the number of cases could be trimmed down, the case of Burgos would remain a priority.
This came as Malacañang also recently ordered a “more focused” probe on his disappearance.
Burgos was seized by men on April 26, 2007 at Hapag Kainan Restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City. The plate number of the vehicle that was used to abduct him was traced to a vehicle impounded in the camp of the 56th Infantry Battalion. (Read: Jonas Burgos: Trapped in a Web of Lives).
De Lima earlier ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a special probe on the case.
The inter-agency committee, created through Administrative Order No. 35, will monitor the NBI probe.
The agency is composed of the following:
- Secretary of Justice as chairperson
- Head of Presidential Human Rights Committee as member
- Secretaries of the Interior and Local Government, and National Defense as members
- Presidential Advisers of the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Political Affairs (OPAPA) as members
- Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as member
- Philippine National Police Chief as member
- National Bureau of Investigation director as member
- Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights as observer and resource person
- Ombudsman as observer and resource person
The following are the initial tasks of the new committee, its special teams and technical working group:
- To carry out the immediate inventory of all alleged human rights violations committed by state and non-state forces
- To monitor the development of cases pending in courts or under investigation
- To investigate unsolved and new cases, and prosecute the perpetrators
- To submit to the President every 6 months a progress report, a detailed inventory of pending human rights abuse cases, and accomplishments and recommendations
The Court of Appeals has held Lt Harry Baliaga responsible for Burgos’s disappearance. The CA said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are also accountable for his abduction.
The SC, on the other hand, has ordered the AFP to produce reports related to the Burgos case, following the emergence of new evidence that could allegedly link the military to his abduction.
These new pieces of evidence include a supposed apprehension report, a psycho-social processing report, an autobiography and a picture of Burgos taken while he was allegedly in detention. – Rappler.com
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