A Video Appeal of the Burgos Family to End Impunity

5 years and 338 days of searching for Jonas "Jay Jay" Burgos a picture surfaced that appears to have been taken after his abduction. A picture indeed is worth a thousand words and in it you can almost sense how Jonas sees his dire situation sensing his doomed fate in the hands of his captors.

If this administration is really serious in leading us towards the narrow straight path of righteousness they should start with ending impunity and state sanctioned terrorist activities of abducting and extra-judicial summary execution of political dissenters by military scalawags.

Mr. President, we hate to see you miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the course of history towards building a just, fair, and humane society that upholds the democratic ideals and principles of which your parents were a major contributor. Let us remind the President Noynoy Aquino that her mother the late President Cory Aquino was one of the first to come up with a statement of concern in May 2, 2007:

I view with the deepest concern the disappearance and apparent abduction by unknown forces of the farmer-activist Jonas Joseph Burgos, son of the late world press freedom fighter Jose Burgos Jr. who lit our paths in the dark, long years of martial rule.

I appeal to the highest authorities of the land to send the clear signal to the field, that Jonas Burgos must be surfaced immediately by whoever is holding him, and that no harm must come to him. If any organs of the state has a case whatsoever against him, we believe that Jonas must be allowed to defend himself in court, and not become part of the statistics of the disappeared and others who have fallen victim to extrajudicial punishment in these troubled times.

I pray for the safety of Jonas and that of the rest of the family of Joe Burgos.

May Our Lord have mercy on them!

The discovery of the picture that appears to have been taken right after his abduction is a good start that could lead to more information in finally knowing the whereabouts or in finding out if Jonas is still alive which we hope against hope that he is still with us.

Arresting Gen. Jovito Palparan will show the administration's seriousness in pursuing the narrow straight path. Their continued failure to arrest Palparan who could probably shed light on Burgos disappearance is a direct insult to the administrations straight narrow path of righteousness making a mockery and reducing it into an empty shallow worthless slogan for the gullible.

It is understandable that the late President Cory Aquino can only make an appeal because she was not the incumbent anymore but the inmate Gloria Arroyo but you Mr. President Noynoy Aquino is the the incumbent with 3 more years if we can borrow what your sister allegedly says to Yap. You can order the arrest and a thorough investigation to spare Editha Burgos the mother of Jonas the time, effort, money, and agony in filing cases with the high which is not cheap in finding out what happened to her son.

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Politics Filipinos  Philippine Politics Human Rights desaparecidos

Palparan on the Run Evading Peoples Manhunt

Support the call of the mothers of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño for a PEOPLE’S MANHUNT for Palparan! JAIL PALPARAN! JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!

RIGHTS ALLIANCE CALL ON NETIZENS TO SUPPORT CALL FOR JUSTICE, ASKS TO POST "WANTED: PALPARAN" POSTERS ON THEIR PROFILES

The End Impunity Alliance, a network of victims of human rights violations, human rights defenders and civil libertarians, today called on all netizens, especially Facebook users, to help the mothers of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno to attain justice for their missing daughters by participating in the “People’s Manhunt” for Ret. Major General Jovito Palparan and his co-accused M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario through posting on their profiles the “Wanted: Palparan” poster released by Karapatan, Desaparecidos and Hustisya. (poster attached)

“The internet is venue for supporting many causes including this very important quest for justice of the mothers of the two disappeared UP students. All netizens are enjoined to post this poster on their profiles to make known to internet users the face and name of this notorious human rights violator and seek information on his whereabouts to cause his immediate arrest,” said Cristina Palabay, convenor of End Impunity Alliance.

The call for “People’s Manhunt” was issued by the mothers last December 21, after warrants of arrest were issued by Branch 14 of the Malolos City Regional Trial Court in Bulacan. The warrants came after the Department of Justice found probable cause on the charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention filed by Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeno, mothers of the 2 UP students. The criminal case was filed by the mothers in May 2011.

On December 19, Palparan was not allowed to take the flight from Clark International Airport to Singapore. The Bureau of Immigration likewise released a hold departure order for Palparan and his cohorts. Two of Palparan’s co-accused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio have surrendered to authorities, while Palparan and Hilario remains at large.

In using the poster in their profiles, netizens are also requested to post this short note: “Support the call of Sherlyn and Karen's mothers for a PEOPLE'S MANHUNT for Palparan! JAIL PALPARAN! JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS! Use this profile picture to spread the word about the need to arrest one of the most notorious human rights violators.”

“Three days after the warrants of arrest against Palparan et al, he has evaded accountability by trying to leave the country and by being a fugitive. We call on the public to help the victims’ mothers by giving information which is not only an exercise of vigilance and compassion, but an act, however small it may be, in making perpetrators pay for their high crimes against the victims and the Filipino people. Ending impunity in the country, when state institutions have been remiss in pursuing justice and accountability, rests on the people’s advocacy and struggle for genuine democracy and freedom,” Palabay further said.

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Politics Filipinos  Philippine Politics Human Rights desaparecidos

NATIONAL UNION OF PEOPLES LAWYERS DENOUNCES COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ON ROXAS CASE

Melissa Roxas' Press Conference (2 of 4): Statement by Melissa Roxas from Habi Arts on Vimeo.

Late last year, the Supreme Court of the Philippines in Roxas v Arroyo ordered the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the abduction and torture of Fil-Am activist Melissa Roxas. In her amparo petition, Roxas claimed that she was abducted by elements belonging to the Philippine military. The Supreme Court found that the police and the military investigations on the abduction were one-sided. In ordering the CHR to conduct a thorough investigation, the Supreme Court said:

Ironic as it seems, but part and parcel of the reason why (Roxas) was not able to adduce substantial evidence proving her allegations of government complicity in her abduction and torture, may be attributed to the incomplete and one-sided investigations conducted by the government itself. This “awkward” situation, wherein the very persons alleged to be involved in an enforced disappearance or extralegal killing are, at the same time, the very ones asked by law to investigate the matter, is a unique characteristic of these proceedings and is the main source of the “evidentiary difficulties” faced by any petitioner in any amparo case.

Last week, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines en banc released its resolution which may be summarized in one sentence: The New People's Army, not the military, abducted and tortured Roxas! However, the CHR did not substantiate this with any evidence. Rights groups all over the country were and remain outraged. In a press release today, the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers, the largest organization of human rights lawyers and paralegals in the country, through Atty. Edre U. Olalia, its Secretary General, castigated the CHR for its resolution.

The full text of the NUPL press release is as follows:

RIGHTS LAWYERS TELL CHR – STOP OBSCURING TRUTH REGARDING FIL-AM ACTIVIST TORTURE

Human rights lawyers association National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) challenged the resolution of the Commission of Human Rights on the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas, a Filipino-American activist and Bayan-USA member.

“We are at a loss to interpret such illogical legal reasoning ,” states NUPL Secretary-General Atty. Edre Olalia. He was referring to the Resolution’s findings that Roxas was indeed abducted and tortured, but then stops short of holding the military accountable. The resolution further went into unprecedented speculations on who could possibly be behind these human rights violations, pointing at the New People’s Army (NPA).

Roxas was abducted on May 19, 2009 in La Paz, Tarlac. She was repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological torture to force a confession that she was a member of the NPA.

The Resolution states that there was “insufficient evidence” to conclude that military agents were the ones behind Roxas’ abduction and torture. It then, in a leap of inference perhaps betraying a scarcity of objectivity, went on to say that it has received “information” from unspecified individuals saying that the NPA could have possibly committed the kidnapping and other human rights violations on Roxas.

Atty. Olalia points out that “the CHR is quick to deflect AFP’s hand in Melissa’s torture, while giving credence to flimsy and questionable sources to surmise NPA involvement. However, CHR was not able to produce a shred of evidence to substantiate its incredible claims.”

The CHR itself admits the dubiousness of its findings, adding in its defense, “the failure to identify specific persons to accuse and hold responsible is not fatal to the competence of the CHR to make a finding on the question of the commission of human rights violation.”

The Court of Appeals had earlier granted Roxas’ petition for a writ of amparo, declaring that her testimony was “credible and worthy of belief.” The Supreme Court itself had additionally directed that further investigation be conducted with the use of extraordinary diligence in order to identify the perpetrators behind the abduction and torture. And yet with one stroke of the pen, the CHR aims to remove the burden of responsibility on the military to prove that it was not guilty of abducting and torturing Roxas. “Where is this extraordinary diligence?” asks Atty. Olalia. “It is downright ironic for the CHR, which is constitutionally tasked to investigate human rights violations, to be the first to mask the AFP’s role in Melissa’s abduction and torture.”

Joining other other human rights victims, their relatives, and human rights advocates, the NUPL tells the CHR, “Stick to the issue: given the facts, pattern, motive, means, opportunity and context of her ordeal, Melissa was clearly abducted and tortured by the State security forces under the Oplan Bantay Laya program of GMA. Ignoring the overwhelming facts will only engender impunity and make perpetrators gloat and swagger like they were her protectors rather than cut them down to size and make them accountable.”#

Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary - General (09175113373)

Posted by: CHERYL L. DAYTEC

Phil. Representative signatories to a Resolution allowing a Heroes burial for Marcos

Below is the article found at Alleba Politics listing the 216 representatives written by Maria Jose. The list of the history revisionist are indeed familiar if not a permanent fixture in the sorry pathetic state of Philippine personality and patronage politics. Can we expect any different, of course not but that does not mean that we have to suffer in silence especially those victims of the despotic regime being elevated from the Philippine history's villain to herp with a mere stroke of their revisionist poisonous pen.

Call, write or email your representatives if they are on list and ask what drives them to rewrite history to elevate former dictator Ferdinand Marcos into a hero. Their election to that office is embarrasment enough but their action will definitely make us the laughing stock of the world at the expense of thousands of human rights victims under the despotic regime of the conjugal dictatorship.

The least we can do is to sign this petition to stop the shameless history revisionist from their madness located at this link titled Marcos is not a Hero! Protest the Plan to Make Him One!

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216 representatives have signed the House of Representatives resolution filed on March 23, 2011 entitled “A RESOLUTION URGING THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT BENIGNO C. AQUINO III TO ALLOW THE BURIAL OF THE REMAINS OF FORMER PRESIDENT FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS AT THE LIBINGAN NG MGA BAYANI.” Here is the list of the 216 representatives who signed the said resolution:

• Abayon, Daryl Grace J., AANGAT TAYO
• Acharon, Pedro Jr. B., South Cotabato & General Santos City, 1st District, NPC
• Acop, Romeo M., Antipolo City, 2nd District, Independent
• Aggabao, Giorgidi B., Isabela, 4th District, LPC
• Aglipay, Emmeline Y., DIWA
• Agyao, Manuel S., Kalinga, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Albano, Rodolfo B., Isabela, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Alcover, Pastor Jr. M., ANAD
• Almario, Thelma Z., Davao Oriental, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Almonte, Jorge T., Misamis Occidental, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Alvarez, Antonio C., Palawan, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Alvarez, Mercedes K., Negros Occidental, 6th District, NPC
• Amante-Matba, Angelica M., Agusan del Norte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Amatong, Rommel C., Compostela Valley, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Andaya, Rolando Jr. G., Camarines Sur, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Angping, Ma. Zenaida B., Manila, 3rd District, NPC
• Antonino, Rodolfo W., Nueva Ecija, 4th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Antonio, Patricio T., ABIAG
• Apacible, Tomas V., Batangas, 1st District, Liberal
• Apostol, Sergio F., Leyte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Aquino, Jose II S., Agusan del Norte, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Arago, Ma. Evita R., Laguna, 3rd District, Liberal
• Arenas, Ma. Rachel J., Pangasinan, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Arnaiz, George P., Negros Oriental, 2nd District, NPC
• Arquiza, Godofredo V., SENIOR CITIZEN
• Arroyo, Diosdado Macapagal, Camarines Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Arroyo, Ignacio, Negros Occidental, 5th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Asilo, Benjamin DR., Manila, 1st District, LP/KKK
• Aumentado, Erico B., Bohol, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Avance-Fuentes, Daisy, South Cotabato, 2nd District, NPC
• Bagasina, Catalina C., ALE
• Bagatsing, Amado S., Manila, 5th District, KABAKA
• Balindong, Pangalian M., Lanao del Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Barzaga, Elpidio Jr. F., Dasmariñas City, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Bataoil, Leopoldo N., Pangasinan, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Batocabe, Rodel M., AKO BIKOL
• Bautista, Franklin P., Davao del Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Belmonte, Vicente Jr. F., Iligan City, Lone District, Liberal
• Benitez, Alfredo ‘Albee’ B., Negros Occidental, 3rd District, NPC
• Bernos, Ma. Jocelyn V., Abra, Lone District, PDSP
• Bichara, Al Francis DC., Albay, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Bondoc, Anna York P., M.D., Pampanga, 4th District, Nacionalista
• Bravo, Narciso Jr. R., Masbate, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Brawner Baguilat, Teddy Jr., Ifugao, Lone District, Liberal
• Briones, Nicanor M., AGAP
• Bulut-Begtang, Eleanor C., Apayao, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Cabaluna, Salvador III P., 1-CARE
• Cabilao Yambao, Jonathan, Zamboanga Sibugay, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Cagas, Marc Douglas IV C., Davao del Sur, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Cajayon, Mary Mitzi L., Caloocan City, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Calimbas-Villarosa, Ma. Amelita A., Occidental Mindoro, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Canonigo, Ranulfo P., KAKUSA
• Cari, Jose Carlos L., Leyte, 5th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Castro, Jane T., Capiz, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Catamco, Nancy A., North Cotabato, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Celeste, Jesus ‘Boying’ F., Pangasinan, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Cerafica, Arnel M., Taguig City, 1st District, Liberal
• Chipeco, Justin Mark SB., Laguna, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Co, Christopher S., AKO BIKOL
• Cojuangco, Enrique M., Tarlac, 1st District, NPC
• Cojuangco, Kimi S., Pangasinan, 5th District, NPC
• Collantes, Sonny P., Batangas, 3rd District, PMP
• Cortuna, Julieta R., A TEACHER
• Cosalan, Ronald M., Benguet, Lone District, Liberal
• Crisologo, Vincent ‘Bingbong’ P., Quezon City, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Cua, Dakila Carlo E., Quirino, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Dalog, Maximo B., Mountain Province, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Datumanong ,Simeon A., Maguindanao, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Dayanghirang, Nelson L., Davao Oriental, 1st District, Nacionalista
• De Venecia, Ma. Georgina P., Pangasinan, 4th District, NPC
• Del Rosario, Antonio A., Capiz, 1st District, Liberal
• Diaz, Antonio M., Zambales, 2nd District, Lapiang Manggagawa
• Dimaporo, Fatima Aliah Q., Lanao del Norte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Dimaporo, Imelda Quibranza, Lanao del Norte, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Duavit, Joel Roy, Rizal, 1st District, NPC
• Durano, Ramon VI H., Cebu, 5th District, NPC
• Dy, Napoleon S., Isabela, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ejercito, Joseph Victor G., San Juan City, Lone District, PMP
• Emano, Yevgeny Vincente B., Misamis Oriental, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Enerio-Cerilles, Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Enverga, Wilfrido Mark M., Quezon, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Eriguel, Eufranio ‘Franny’ C., M.D., La Union, 2nd District, NPC
• Escudero, Salvador III H., Sorsogon, 1st District, NPC
• Espina, Rogelio J.,M.D., Biliran, Lone District, Nacionalista
• Estrella, Robert Raymund M., ABONO
• Evardone, Ben P., Eastern Samar, Lone District, Independent
• Fariñas, Rodolfo C., Ilocos Norte, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Fernandez, Danilo Ramon S., Laguna, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ferrer, Antonio A., Cavite, 6th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ferrer, Jeffrey P., Negros Occidental, 4th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Fortuno, Salvio B., Camarines Sur, 5th District, Nacionalista
• Fua, Orlando B., Siquijor, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Fuentebella, Arnulfo P., Camarines Sur, 4th District, NPC
• Garay, Florencio C., Surigao del Sur, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Garbin, Alfredo Jr. A., AKO BIKOL
• Garcia, Albert Raymond S., Bataan, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Garin, Janette L., Iloilo, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Garin, Sharon S., AAMBIS-OWA
• Gatchalian, Rex, Valenzuela City, 1st District, NPC
• Go, Ana Cristina S., Isabela, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Go, Arnulfo F., Sultan Kudarat, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Golez, Anthony Rolando Jr. T., Bacolod City, Lone District, NPC
• Gomez, Lucy T., Leyte, 4th District, Liberal
• Gonzales, Aurelio ‘Dong’ Jr. D., Pampanga, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Gonzalez, Fernando V., Albay, 3rd District, Liberal
• Guanlao, Agapito H., BUTIL
• Gullas, Eduardo R., Cebu, 1st District, NP-ALAYON
• Haresco, Teodorico T., ANG KASANGGA
• Hataman-Salliman, Jim S., Basilan, Lone District, Liberal
• Herrera-Dy, Bernadette R., BH
• Jaafar, Nur G., Tawi-Tawi, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Jalosjos, Cesar G., Zamboanga del Norte, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Jalosjos, Romeo Jr. M., Zamboanga Sibugay, 2nd District, Nacionalista
• Jalosjos, Seth F. P., Zamboanga del Norte, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Joson, Josefina M., Nueva Ecija, 1st District, NPC
• Kho, Antonio T., Masbate, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Kho, David L., SENIOR CITIZEN
• Lacson-Noel, Josephine Veronique R., Malabon City, Lone District, NPC
• Lagdameo, Antonio Jr. F., Davao del Norte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Lanete, Scott Davies S., M.D., Masbate, 3rd District, NPC
• Lapus, Jeci A., Tarlac, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Lazatin, Carmelo F., Pampanga, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G., ABS
• Lico, Isidro Q., ATING KOOP
• Limkaichong, Jocelyn S., Negros Oriental, 1st District, Liberal
• Loong, Tupay T., Sulu, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Lopez, Carol Jayne B., YACAP
• Loyola, Roy M., Cavite, 5th District, Liberal
• Macapagal Arroyo, Juan Miguel, ANG GALING PINOY
• Macapagal-Arroyo, Gloria M., Pampanga, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Madrona, Eleandro Jesus F., Romblon, Lone District, Nacionalista
• Magsaysay, Eulogio ‘Amang’ R., AVE
• Magsaysay, Ma. Milagros H., Zambales, 1st District, Lakas
• Malapitan, Oscar G., Caloocan City, 1st District, Nacionalista
• Maliksi, Erineo S., Cavite, 3rd District, Liberal
• Mandanas, Hermilando I., Batangas, 2nd District, Liberal
• Marañon, Alfredo III D., Negros Occidental, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Marcoleta, Rodante D., AVE
• Marcos, Imelda R., Ilocos Norte, 2nd District, KBL
• Matugas, Francisco ‘Lalo’ T., Surigao del Norte, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Mellana, Evelyn P., Agusan del Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Mendoza, Joselito ‘Jonjon’ R., Bulacan, 3rd District, Liberal
• Mendoza, Mark Llandro L., Batangas, 4th District, NPC
• Mercado, Roger G., Southern Leyte, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Mercado-Revilla, Lani, Cavite, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Miraflores, Florencio T., Aklan, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Montejo, Neil Benedict A., AN WARAY
• Nava, Joaquin Carlos Rahman A., Guimaras, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Noel, Florencio G., AN WARAY
• Nograles, Karlo Alexei B., Davao City, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Obillo, Reena Concepcion G., ANG PAMILYA
• Ocampo, Rosenda Ann, Manila, 6th District, LP/KKK
• Olivarez, Edwin L., Parañaque City, 1st District, Liberal
• Ong, Emil L., Northern Samar, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ortega, Francisco Emmanuel III R.ABONO
• Ortega, Victor Francisco C., La Union, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Padilla, Carlos M., Nueva Vizcaya, Lone District, Nacionalista
• Palmones, Angelo B., AGHAM
• Pancho, Pedro M., Bulacan, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Pangandaman, Mohammed Hussein P., Lanao del Sur, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Pangandaman, Solaiman C., AA KASOSYO
• Panotes, Elmer E., Camarines Norte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Paras, Jesus Emmanuel M., Bukidnon, 1st District, NPC
• Payuyo, Ponciano D., APEC
• Piamonte, Mariano Jr. U., A-TEACHER
• Pichay, Philip A., Surigao del Sur, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Plaza, Ma. Valentina G., Agusan del Sur, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ponce Enrile, Juan Jr. C., Cagayan, 1st District, NPC
• Primicias-Agabas, Marlyn L., Pangasinan, 6th District, NPC
• Puno, Roberto V., Antipolo City, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Quimbo, Romero Federico ‘Miro’ S., Marikina City, 2nd District, Liberal
• Quisumbing, Gabriel R., Cebu, 6th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Ramos, Deogracias Jr. B., Sorsogon, 2nd District, Liberal
• Remulla, Jesus Crispin C., Cavite, 7th District, Nacionalista
• Rivera, Michael Angelo C., 1-CARE
• Robes, Arturo B., San Jose del Monte City, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Rodriguez, Isidro Jr. S., Rizal, 2nd District, NPC
• Rodriguez, Maximo Jr. B., ABANTE MINDANAO
• Rodriguez, Rufus B., Cagayan de Oro City, 2nd District, PMP
• Roman, Herminia B., Bataan, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Romarate, Guillermo Jr. A., Surigao del Norte, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Romualdez, Ferdinand Martin G., Leyte, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Romualdo, Pedro P., Camiguin, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Sacdalan, Jesus N., North Cotabato, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Sahidulla, Nur-ana I., Sulu, 2nd District, NPC
• Sakaluran, Raden C., Sultan Kudarat, 1st District, Independent
• Salimbangon, Benhur L., Cebu, 4th District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Salvacion, Andres Jr. D., Leyte, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• San Luis, Edgar S., Laguna, 4th District, NPC
• Sarmiento, Cesar V., Catanduanes, Lone District, Liberal
• Sarmiento, Mel Senen S., Western Samar, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Sema, Bai Sandra A., Maguindanao & Cotabato City, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Singson, Eric Jr. G., Ilocos Sur, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Socrates, Victorino Dennis M., Palawan, 2nd District, NPC
• Suarez, Danilo E., Quezon, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R., Bulacan, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Tan, Milagrosa ‘Mila’ T., Western Samar, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Teodoro, Marcelino R, Marikina City, 1st District, Independent
• Teves, Pryde Henry A., Negros Oriental, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Tiangco, Tobias ‘Toby’ M., Navotas City, Lone District, Partido Navoteno
• Ting, Randolph S., Cagayan, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Tomawis, Acmad M., ALIF
• Tupas, Niel Jr. C., Iloilo, 5th District, Liberal
• Umali, Reynaldo V., Oriental Mindoro, 2nd District, Liberal
• Unabia, Peter ‘Sr. Pedro’ M., Misamis Oriental, 1st District, PMP
• Ungab, Isidro T., Davao City, 3rd District, Liberal
• Valencia, Rodolfo G., Oriental Mindoro, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Vargas-Alfonso, Baby Aline, Cagayan, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Vergara, Bernardo M., Baguio City, Lone District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Villafuerte, Luis R., Camarines Sur, 3rd District, NPC
• Villar, Mark A., Las Piñas City, Lone District, Nacionalista
• Violago, Joseph Gilbert F., Nueva Ecija, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Yap, Arthur C., Bohol, 3rd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Yap, Susan, Tarlac, 2nd District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD
• Yu, Victor J., Zamboanga del Sur, 1st District, NPC
• Zamora-Apsay, Ma. Carmen, Compostela Valley, 1st District, Lakas-Kampi-CMD

Is your representative one of them?

Unfortunately, my district’s representative (whom I didn’t vote for) is on the list.

As the daughter of parents who are both martial law victims, I can find no rhyme or reason for burying Marcos in the “Libingan ng mga Bayani” or for giving him a hero’s burial rites. For one, being a soldier alone does not cancel out his wrongdoings. Nor does it make him a hero.

I am utterly disgusted at these 216 representatives.

The Marcos era and Martial Law may have long gone, but let us NEVER FORGET!

Lorelei Fajardo the GloriLIE & Philippine Comical Ali Clone on Abduction & Torture

Remember the Iraqi Minister of Information during the reign of Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf better known as Comical Ali or Baghdad Bob for his outrageous delusional lies he desperately tries to peddle to the international press at the height of the invasion?
He was one nut that gave us a comic relief at the way he single-handedly conducts his Goebbel style propaganda without batting an eyelash proclaiming their victory when their soldiers was actually surrendering or deserting en masse. It seems Gloria Arroyo’s administration has no shortage of Comical Ali’s looking like a fool in response to abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas when I posted her foolish statement at PJ's FaceBook notes, to quote:

Lorelei Fajardo on Melissa Roxas Abduction & Torture

I found out that presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo is on FaceBook so I sent her a message below, I just don't know if she will respond:

Are you serious? In case you are forgetting civilians a foreigner at that unlike the government where you belong have no way of coming up with evidence except the injuries they sustained and their affidavit on the abduction and torture. You have all the agencies at your disposal to order a thorough investigation and yet you come up with foolish statements which I quote from inquirer article below:

In Malacañang, Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesperson, said Roxas should come up with evidence to prove her allegations.

“Many people are coming up with black propaganda just to get attention or create a scenario, which would not be productive,” she said. “The government should not be giving attention to these.”

Duh, what was that all about? Just like Baghdad Bob she together with Cerge Remonde truly makes you wonder if they were trying out for an audition in a stand up comic act or they are just so dense and outrageously dumb. Well, they are probably not thinking or incapable of thinking but then again as spokesperson of the cheating errr seating president they are not suppose to think but blabber away the president’s stand on issues. And blabber they surely did with precise accuracy laying out Arroyo’s stand on the issue that she condones and encourage political abduction and torture.

Seeing LoreLIE Fajardo’s absurd statement is truly incredible and for Cerge Remonde to follow it up with more hogwash below on the same inquirer article makes you wonder if they are sane enough to be allowed to mingle with people in our society:

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde was also not immediately buying Roxas’ account. “We know that there are groups that do nothing but destroy the President.”

Is he nut or something? There is really no need to destroy the cheating errr seating president because no one particular group can do a better job of destroying the presidency of Gloria Arroyo with questionable mandate but they themselves as seen in their shameless Con ASS political maneuverings and countless scandals involving billions of pesos that is so obviously leading to the usual suspects….. themselves.

Of course we can understand why they buy the military’s version of the incident insisting they have “investigated” and found “no” military personnel was involved as in using the weakest defense of all time the alibi and yet the blabbermouths errr mouthpiece of Malacañang without showing any shred of evidence points to the “destabilizers” with certainty and authority. Hello, either these nuts are hopelessly gullible or they try their best to please the scalawags in the military who seems to be the majority that keeps Gloria Arroyo in power. The military that is a breeding ground for certified little Hitler’s and Machiavellian disciples with past history of concocting scenarios that led to martial law under Dictator Marcos and now it seems they are on to some plot according to Ding Gagelonia at Philippine Commentary. Just because they are buying the military's denial it does not mean that people are buying it as seen on the numerous response we got at FaceBook notes where they can't even sell it for cheap even if we leave Jocelyn 'Joc Joc' Bolante as payment, lol.

Now exactly how credible is this administration whenever they make a pronouncement? I say nil to almost none especially when we hear about Gloria Arroyo's "self-Quarantine" that I should say is more of a black propaganda.... no I take it back, I should say more of ... oh just read it below...... ok, more of what the Hayden camera and former antique errr mama oooops lover Vicki Belo loves to do (ok, I know what you are thinking.... no it is not about sex video but augmentation mammoplasty, lol) than self-sacrifice if this report by Manila Bulletin is accurate:

The informant, who requested anonymity since the source was not authorized to speak about the matter, said the President was scheduled to undergo augmentation mammoplasty at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

In addition, a cyst or lump in the groin area was also scheduled to be removed by surgery, said the hospital source.

A biopsy was also done on her breast, the source said. This does not mean that the President was ill. This was part of regular medical procedures, the source added.

I don't know about you but that is really bizarre, augmentation as in breast implant? Now, how can we believe the blabbering mouthpiece duo of Malacañang when they blabber about self-quarantine that was not exactly what it is but more about breast implants?

I realized that this is a serious matter but on the other hand they have the uncanny ability to bring out comical relief at their expense proof of their negative credibility if ever they even have any. At the rate they take a Baghdad Bob stance you know they are really losing it. So out of it that Mila Aguilar came out with her poetic justice errr was “inspired” to write about Gloria’s Lorelei...... But, unlike the legendary rock on the River Rhine from which a mermaid would haunt sailors to certain shipwreck, this LoreLIE does not exactly bring enchanted bliss but they themselves wallow in their own blissful ignorance.

Lorelei is LoreLIE, who is in truth GloriLIE

Oh, the lie, the lie that we must ply
till they in God's mercy die!
GloriLIE is the sty in my eye.
She makes me cry,
I know exactly why.

My tears are like God's rain
that's meant to swoosh the clog in the drain.
The ugly clog in the drain,
our nation's bane.
We've seen it wax, we'll see it wane.

God means to wipe away this stain!

Special thanks to my FaceBook friends Bong David, Sylvia Mayuga, and Jenifer C. Aquino-Xavier for their repartee inspiring Mila Aguilar in writing the wonderful piece regarding the clog in our nation's drain.

Related article:

• The Maguindanao Massacre & the Mafiosi Conspiracy that Gloria Arroyo Calls Friendship
• Lorelei Fajardo Sacked as Gloria Arroyo’s Comical Ali errrr Spokeswoman
  

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Politics Filipinos Filipino-Americans Philippine Politics Human Rights desaparecidos

U.S. Citizen Melissa Roxas Abducted and Tortured by Suspected Philippine Military Agents to Speak Publicly in Los Angeles

U.N. Day in Support of Torture Victims Marked with Press Conference by Torture Survivor Melissa Roxas

What: Press Conference of Melissa Roxas, recent victim of abduction and torture

When: Saturday, June 27, 2009

Time: 4-5:30 PM

Where: Echo Park United Methodist Church
1226 N. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Live Web Stream: www.bayan.ph

LOS ANGELES, CA – In her first public appearance since being released from captivity, Melissa Roxas, a U.S. citizen abducted and tortured in the Philippines from May 19-25, will hold a press conference to describe the human rights abuses she endured while held for six days in an alleged military camp. Ms. Roxas, an American human rights advocate of Filipino descent, is the first known American citizen to have become a victim of abduction and torture in the Philippines, a country which has drawn international condemnation for state-sponsored human rights atrocities.

In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Philippine Supreme Court, Ms. Roxas described being abducted at gunpoint by several heavily armed men, brought to what she believed is a military camp, held against her will, questioned without the presence of an attorney, beaten repeatedly, and asphyxiated using plastic bags before being released. During the press conference, Ms. Roxas is expected to demand accountability from the Philippine government and military, who she holds responsible for her ordeal, as well as the U.S. government for providing funding and training to the Philippine military. Reports by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Philippine-based human rights organization Karapatan, and Human Rights Watch have overwhelmingly concluded that the Philippine military is responsible for systematically carrying out human rights violations such as abduction, torture and extra-judicial killings against innocent civilians. Nearly $1 billion worth of U.S. military aid and materiel has been granted to the Philippines since 1999, the year the U.S.- Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement was enacted.

The experience of Ms. Roxas is considered typical for the 200 cases of abduction and 1,010 cases of torture recorded since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president of the Philippines in 2001. The Philippine government’s quick denial of responsibility for Ms. Roxas’ abduction and torture is also considered a typical response; in his 2007 report on the Philippines, U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston cited such systematic denial by the government as one of the primary obstacles to stopping the rampant human rights violations plaguing the country. In his 2009 follow-up report, Alston indicated a general failure of the Arroyo government to stop the persistent human rights violations. In April 2009, the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) also released a report detailing the use of torture by the Philippine military.

At the press conference, Ms. Roxas’ legal counsel, Attorney Arnedo Valera, will explain the potential legal remedies that are being explored, including the filing of a tort action in U.S. Federal Court for punitive and compensatory damages against her identified assailants or the Arroyo government in the absence of named assailants; the lodging of a private complaint before the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Desk against the Philippine government for the violation of the fundamental rights of a U.S. citizen; and the filing of a complaints before the appropriate U.N. agencies for violations of the International Covenant Against Torture, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

The press conference will be held in Los Angeles, CA and broadcast live on the Bayan Philippine website. Media in the Philippines will be hosted simultaneously by Bayan Philippines and will be able to ask questions in real time. The U.S.-based press conference is sponsored by the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign, whose membership includes Ms. Roxas’ legal counsel, BAYAN-USA, GABRIELA USA, and the Katarungan Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns.

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Politics Filipinos Filipino-Americans Philippine Politics Human Rights desaparecidos

The Heinous End of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez and Martial Law

The gruesome death of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez mirrors the effects of the unwritten policy of the government to disregard, with unbridled license, the rule of law for the rule by law when it suits its ends e.g. repeated attempts in failed constitutional adventurism, more recently HR 1109.

This adventurism with the law, done amidst a continuing climate of unsolved extra-judicial killings, questionable abductions and missing critics of the status quo; intimidations, threats and often the murder of social activists; assassinations of suspected left leaning community leaders etc., notwithstanding local or international pressure for their immediate closure, breed a perception that a person’s life in the Philippines is cheap and that a class of people in the Philippines is above the law.

Easily, this perception erodes public respect for the majesty of law and the expectation for its equal protection. The spate of recent executive pardons and commutation of penalty of known personalities convicted of heinous crimes merely exacerbated this perception.

On the private and personal level, those with perverted minds among us might find that they too could get away with their own criminal design. As it appears to them, these unsolved crimes seem to be the rule in the nation. They feel they too need not follow the law and go to court, with all its delay and open proceedings, to settle a dispute or to erase an irritant in their lives. All one needs to have, their dark mind seems to suggest, is a heart of stone, money and connection. This seems to be the message one gets from the manner by which Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez earthly existence was ended. Parang isang crime of passion, done ala Sopranos starring James Gandolfini and his Mafiaosis! And Filipinos being the best copy cats in the world, especially doon sa may mga sapi d’yan sa ulo, they might really think crime does not pay in this part of the world!

Indeed, these are dangerous times in the Philippines but this is one of those instances where our outrage should overcome our fear and we, the people, should really stand up and push our authorities to solve this case of Ruby Rose, even if she is not in any way related to us, much less, known to many of us.

If, for some reason or another, this case would be white-washed or the guilty party would not brought to justice, as in other big cases, totoong naka-kaawa na nga ang mga walang connection o nga dukha sa atin, lalong-lalo na kung may kaya ang kanilang makakabangga. At dahil baka maniwala sila na talagang wala na ngang pag-asa sila sa altar ng batas ng bayan dahil isang dukha lang sila, they might take the law in their own hands and surely, hell would really break loose, in our country. And the sad part of it all, is that it would benefit no one, neither the Barramedas nor the public or justice itself, but someone who, right now, has been praying for almost half a decade for a chance to declare martial law in the realm.

Should that happen, that situation would be hell for all Filipinos, rich and poor alike, as if all of us have ended like Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez – entombed in a cement-filled drum, encased in steel and lying at the bottom of the deep murky, silt-filled waters of the port of Navotas and in whose wake, not even her children were allowed to be present.

If you are on FaceBook please join us at the Justice for Ruby Rose & All the Victims of Domestic Violence cause.

Lu Tong Mancau

Related articles:

• Justice for Ruby Rose & All the Victims of Domestic Violence FaceBook Hall of Fame
• Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez kin & supporters cries for justice
• The gruesome Mafia style cold blooded murder of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez
• Rodolfo Manalili's Pardon, Jueteng Connection or Gloria Arroyo’s Due Process?

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Filipinos Filipino-Americans Philippine Politics Human Rights

Abducted Filipino-American Melissa C. Roxas Ordeal with her Military Torturers

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)

QUEZON CITY……………………) s.s.

AFFIDAVIT

I, Melissa C. Roxas, of legal age, a Citizen of the United States of America, and temporarily residing at Quezon City, Philippines, after having been sworn to in accordance with law, do hereby depose and state that:

1. I am a graduate of the University of California San Diego with a BS in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience and a BA in Third World Studies with a Minor in Health Care and Social Issues;

2. I applied for an exposure program in the Philippines being the home country of my parents with Bayan – USA of which I am a member for the purpose of gathering materials for my writing project being also a member of Habi Arts, a community based artist organization based in Los Angeles, California;

3. Bayan – USA endorsed me to Bayan –National and Bayan – National endorsed me to Bayan – Central Luzon which toured me around the provinces and towns of Central Luzon and on April 2009, Bayan – Central Luzon endorsed me to Bayan – Tarlac where I was to join with their members at La Paz, Tarlac to conduct an initial survey of the place for a future medical mission;

4. I brought along with me my camera with a memory card, an external hard disk, a laptop, an Ipod, a journal, a blood pressure sphygmomanometer, a stethoscope, thermometers, medicines, my watch, and a wallet with money in the amount of Ps. 15,000.00; 5. On May 19, 2009, while resting from a survey at a friendly house, the owner of which gladly accepted our request that we rest at his house and while watching a noon time Television program, at around 1:30 p.m., I and my two companions, John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo, heard a banging on the front door and a voice asking that the door be opened. I immediately went to see what was going on and found about 15 men in civilian clothes armed with high power rifles and wearing ski masks or bonnets surrounding the house and in a little while, the door was forcibly opened and armed men swarmed into the house coming from the front door and the back door and ordered us to drop face flat on the ground;

6. I did not obey them and I wanted to stand up to protest the intrusion but an armed man held my head and forced it down pushing me to a squatting position then pushed me on the ground. I asked them why they were doing this to us and I saw that everybody in the house was on the ground flat;

7. They attempted to tape my mouth but I was able to wrench it and they wanted to handcuff me but I resisted and about five of the armed men were ganging up on me, holding my hands and my legs but I continued resisting them and shouting to the owner of the house, “Kuya, help me.”

8. I then started to shout my name, repeating it again and again, I was punched repeatedly at my right rib cage while my two companions who were already blindfolded and taped at the mouth were herded to a blue van about 15 meters from the house door and I with all my strength tried to stop the armed men from putting me into the van and they instead started to drag me bruising and wounding my arms and my legs wounding severely my left knee cap while I continued shouting my name;

9. When they started to force me inside the van via the side door, I locked my feet on the door sidings and they needed more than 5 men to push me. But then, they finally were able to push me inside the van; I was made to sit between two of the armed men and was immediately blindfolded and handcuffed to the back. But they could not tape my mouth because I was already retching and vomiting;

10. When the van started moving, my head was put down so that I could not be seen from the outside;

11. After more than an hour, we stopped and we were told to step down and because I was still retching, they made me sit or half lie on a kind of lounging chair made of bamboo slats and at that point, I did not know where my two companions were;

12. After more than 5 minutes sitting down in that bamboo lounging chair, I was brought into a room with a screen metal door and the room sounded like it had a kitchen as there was running water and I could hear cleaning activities but I was still vomiting and I heard a command was made to a woman to clean my vomit and a man asked me whether I was pregnant but I did not answer him;

13. Another man who I felt was in command asked me if I knew why I was there and I answered him that I knew my rights and that I demanded for my lawyer and he laughed telling me that in the said place there was no availing of a lawyer (walang abogado-abogado dito) and told me that “malinis ka naming nakuha at alam mo naman bakit ka nahuli?” (we got you smoothly and you know why you were captured?)

14. Then he told me that I was a member of the CPP-NPA and I retorted that I was not and I demanded for my lawyer again and I felt that there were other men inside;

15. I was made to enter a room which I felt was a jail cell because as I entered the room, they had to open a door with iron bars and for my two days stay inside that cell, I sensed that my bed was a single wooden bed without mattress, with a length of 6 feet and I was always made to lie down with my head positioned on the wall where the iron barred door was located and at my foot was a low partitioned space where a toilet bowl was and after it was a wall where there were holes serving as windows. I discerned that in the room before entering the jail cell was a bunk but I do not know the whole contents of that room;

16. When I was made to enter the jail cell, I was still blindfolded and handcuffed to the back and I remained in such position until the dawn of the next day when they changed the position of my hands to be handcuffed to the front and because of which my wrists were severely cut and bruised;

17. It must be stated here that throughout my abduction, I was always blindfolded and handcuffed even in my sleep except for those few times when I was made to take a bath;

18. During my two days there, I heard construction activities – blowtorching, hammering and the construction bustle – and these stopped in the late afternoon and I also heard gunfiring as though in a firing range and planes taking off and landing and it was loud and I could also hear goats bleating;

19. Later in the evening, I was brought out of my cell and I was confronted by two burly men in ski mask or bonnet and they shone their flashlights on my face and after a short while, they put me back into my cell and said, “ punta tayo sa kabilang gate.” (let’s go to the other gate);

20. I slept light that first night, determined to always know the time, and when morning came, I was interrogated and no breakfast nor lunch was given to me and I was asked repeatedly if I knew why I was there and was told by them that I was abducted because I was a member of the CPP NPA and I also repeatedly told him that I have rights and that I demanded for my lawyer and then he told me that even a year will pass, no lawyer would be seeing me and told me repeatedly that it was because of people like me who are costing the government so much money and people like me are the ones who are making it difficult for the government, so that they are resorting to what they are doing and asked me who my lawyer was and I told him that it was Atty. Romy Capulong and he seemed to be stymied by my answer;

20. He continued asking me questions which I was not listening to and I was not answering and after 30 minutes of that he stopped and left;

21. After a while, another person entered and interrogated me along the same lines of questions and I did not listen and did not answer but instead told them that I knew my rights and that I wanted my lawyer and about 15 minutes of that, he left and I was already feeling hungry but no food was forthcoming and in the afternoon, many people were going in and out of the room and in and out of my cell and in the evening, I was made to eat and I ate little and then one of the men asked me if he could bathe me and I of course refused but there was this woman who was kind of assisting the men in attending to me and who I came to know later as Rose and she directed me to take a bath and brought me to another building (passing through a sometimes grassy and sometimes graveled pathway) where I saw through my blindfold two double decked beds and I assumed that it was a female barracks and there was a bath room with a jalousie typed window and I took a bath with one hand free from its cuff but with a hanging cuff on the other and my eyes free from the blindfold;

22. I was brought back to my cell blindfolded again and handcuffed at the front and I was made to lie down and after a short while, the iron barred doors were banged making clanking sound and I was taken aback and two men entered my cell with one of the man calling the other, “Tatay”, and a man pulled my cuffed hands up raising me on a sitting position and then a fist struck me at my upper sternum and it hurt and then a thumb was pressed strongly to my throat (I heard somebody saying “huh!...huh…huh.” ) choking me, making me suffocate for quite a time and when he released the pressure I gagged and I coughed and then he struck me with his fist on my left jaw ringing my ears and numbing my jaw and they were telling me, “Ang tigas ng ulo mo. Sasagot ka na sa mga tanong.” He kept repeating the questions and his pressure on my throat and fists to my jaw. An hour after, they left. But before they left, he said, “matigas ‘to. Barilin na lang natin” and I prepared for the worst;

23. It must have been very late night or early dawn, when he came back to me and he dragged me to the first room and I sensed that there was a kind of leader of the group who kept on whispering on that person who was manhandling me and two other men and the man who got me from my cell asked me, “handa ka bang mamatay?” and I answered, “Opo” and then he told me, “bago namin patayin ang isang tao, mapapaihi at mapapatae muna namin siya”;

24. The whispering man kept whispering questions to be asked and the manhandling man kept asking the questions and I told him that I have rights and that I was demanding for my lawyer but when he asked me about my name, I told them but when they asked other questions, I did not answer and he would hit me on the chest strongly and I would lose breath and gasped for air after and then he would press my throat with his thumb and say “Huh…huh…huh!” and I would gag and then he would hit me on my jaws, ringing my ears and numbing my jaws and he repeated this and added another one by holding my head with his two hands and banging the back of my head repeatedly and each time it hit the wall, I would see a flash of white bright light and ringing in my ears and again the pressure to my throat with the “Huh … huh…huh.” And saying to me, “ayaw mo pa din magsasalita” and then punched me in my rib cage and I crumpled but the other men forced me up. This torture continued and every time I crumpled the other men would force me up.

25. I was having a streaming thought that I was going to die there and then, they held my feet and my hands down and doubled up plastic bags were pulled down on my head and face and closed on my neck and I started to suffocate and I could not breath anymore and I was seeing white and thinking I was going to die and then he released the hold and I could breath but I was faint and weak (lantang lanta) and he patted me in the back and several men carried me to my cell;

26. Several hours later and when it was light, a person entered and although I was still very weak and lying down he started to interrogate me again and I said that I was tortured and I knew my rights and he told me that it was not his responsibility if there were other men who would torture me but I forced myself to sit up to face him and he was asking me what was my position in the organization and I was not answering and he told me, “akala mo ba may magagawa ang Canadian Government sa iyo?” and he called me, “Maita” and I told him that I was not Maita;

27. This was May 21, 2009 and the interrogation continued non-stop with one interrogator replaced by another after every hour and I was not given lunch although, there was a brief respite from the questions during lunch but it continued after lunch with that man who kept on his way of threatening me by saying, “Huh…huh…huh.” and this interrogation continued to the night and I remembered one interrogator who introduced himself as Dex and he talked about religion and asked me to return to the fold (“bagong buhay”) telling me that they were “kasangkapan ng Diyos para mag-bagong buhay ang mga rebelde” and I told him that I do not believe him and told him that the God I knew did not condone torture and violence and I was tortured and he gave me 24 hours to decide whether I would return to the fold;

28. After Dex, the religious interrogator, the next interrogator had a Visayan accent and talked about the evils of communism to me and kept on banging the glass on the table and after an hour of lecture, he told me, “maghintay ka na lang mamaya,” and I expected then for the worst to happen and I anticipated that I would be tortured physically again and I called for Rose with the plan that I would talk to her to delay the expected torture they would do to me and I talked to her long into the night and thinking that the only way to mitigate the torture was to play that I was returning to the fold, I told Rose that I would like to return to the fold but despite that after my talk with Rose another interrogator came in and it was this time I heard that there were other units who would like to borrow me and there was no dinner given to me;

29. I had again a light sleep and on May 22, 2009, at the break of day, the interrogation started and intensified and I was brought to another building to what I perceived to be opposite of the female barracks with the jail cell as the fulcrum and I was given some breakfast and a late lunch at the building, I felt I was in a room used as an office and I was facing a panel of interrogators and I sensed that Dex was one of them and that beside me was Rose and another man and aside from the questions and the lecture on anti-communism and religion, they were asking me to sign a document but which I refused but I asked for Dex and went along with the Religion talk;

30. Because of my refusal to sign, I was brought into another room (I heard the voice of Juanito Carabeo when I entered the room) where a bright and hot light was shone on my face and the interrogator started to ask me questions and while asking questions he gripped and pressed my right shoulder hard and it was very painful because there was a dislocation and he knew I had that dislocation and when he was telling me that I was hardheaded he pounded his pointer finger on my forehead and it hurt and then suddenly, he changed his tone and tune and told me he believed that I wanted to return to the fold and we started talking about literature and asked me about magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and he even gave me a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, Love in Times of Cholera, and the Bible of the King James Version and I told him that I was in the area because I was looking for and gathering materials for my novels and that was why I joined the Bayan – USA and applied for an exposure program with Bayan – Central Luzon and Bayan - Tarlac volunteered for that initial survey at La Paz, and that I believed in God and I have to insist on that to go along with the Religious talk of Dex and he told me that they were interested in knowing how I got involved;

31. I was made to drink an orange soda and after a while I started to become groggy and another interrogator came to replace the literary interrogator but Dex was coming in and out of the interrogation and I started to talk about my family, my parents and my address in the United States and I was told that my name was in the Order of Battle and that I told them that I wanted to cooperate in order to return to the fold and later, Dex was again the interrogator and talked to me about religion and it was there that I felt so sleepy and before I could fall asleep I was transferred to the female barracks and was made to sleep in the floor but I was now given a mattress, a blanket and a pillow and I slept heavily and woke up when the light was already bright;

32. This was May 23, 2009 and I got angry with myself for losing control of the time and by sleeping long and deep and the interrogation continued trying to pry from me information of people I visited when I was with Bayan Central Luzon and Bayan Tarlac but I refused saying that I don’t want to put other people in harm’s way and an interrogator who introduced himself to me as RC took over and he talked about religion like Dex and said that they were merely tools of God for making rebels return to the fold and I told him that my God do not torture people and he told me that those who tortured me came from the SOG, the special operations group, and they were responsible for the “pagdukot” and for what happened to me and he asked me, “let us start from zero, ha?...ha? …ha?” and I realized he was the one who was torturing me and he continued to ask me how I came to get involved with Bayan – USA and I told him about my interest in the third world and poverty therein and I started to search the internet and I came to the site of Bayan – USA and that got me started. Sometime in the afternoon, they forcibly took a photo of me and looked for the mole on the left side of my face;

33. On this day, the interrogators were Dex and RC and they rotated between themselves interrogating me and I was playing along the religion line and finally I was told that their boss would be making the final evaluation of whether I was really returning to the fold and I slept lightly on the night of the 23rd and in the morning of the 24th, I was interrogated by the a person whom they called Boss and addressed as “Sir” and the interrogation lasted for the day and I answered their questions about me but not about other people and the Boss told me that if I did not cooperate I would be borrowed by other units whose personnel wouldn’t be as nice as Dex and RC and this interrogation and conversations continued until the night; the Boss also said to me that if I saw him, I’d be surprised and that he knew a lot about me and who I was;

34. At night, RC approached me and told me that I would be going home the next day but I did not believe him and I slept lightly on the night of the 24th; at early dawn of the 25th, I was awakened by Rose who told me to bath and I was given a sim card for use in contacting them and I was given a slip of paper where a new email address RC created for me was written with the password __________and I was given a bag where biscuits were placed and the books that were given were also placed and also the handcuffs used on me and Rose gave me her blouse and shoes for me to use in going home and RC told me that, “hindi tayo magkaaway, gusto ko magkaibigan tayo, ha” and he told me to beware of Karapatan because it will tell you to go against us and will talk with your family and that I should not let Karapatan talk with their family, otherwise, something will happen and that they would like to talk with my uncle and after which, I boarded a different vehicle than that of the van that brought me there as it was more spacious and I was seated on the center with Rose on my left and RC on my right with the driver and a passenger on the passenger side of the front seat and I sensed that there were about more than two people at the back and that I could hear communications with another car which was in convoy with us ordering not to drop me in front of our house in Quezon City as there was an activity but the car I was riding passed by and stopped in front of our house and I was asked to lift my blindfold to take a look at the house and to affirm whether it was my house and I confirmed and my blindfold was placed back and the car turned around and finally I was dropped at the corner nearest the house and I was told to face where I was dropped and to count up to one hundred before walking to my house and RC told me that they will be monitoring all my actions and something bad will happen to me if I do not cooperate that made me more afraid and I did what they told me after they took off my blindfold and I was dropped on the sidewalk and I was facing a wall and I did not move around even just to turn my head as I was very afraid that they would get me again and I did not move even after a count of a hundred until my phone rang and it was RC who instructed me that I could already walk which I did and arrived home to my uncle’s warm and relieved welcome;

35. But my travails did not end there, RC continued to talk to me through the phone where the Sim card he gave was inserted and I was so afraid to go out believing that they were just around monitoring me that I just stayed inside the room not even going out of that room and because of that my cousin bore upon me to throw the bag and the sim card to the trash which I did but the books, the clothes of Rose, the handcuffs, the slip of paper containing the email address RC created for me and the password I retained thinking of filing a case against them;

36. I was traumatized and the fear is still in me and I execute this affidavit to state the truth of the foregoing facts and for purposes of filing a Petition for a Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data to protect me and my family and my uncle and his family now and in the future and for possible other legal cases.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto affix my signature this 2th day of May 2009 at Quezon City, Philippines.

MELISSA C. ROXAS

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE me this 29th day of May 2009 at Quezon City, Philippines by affiant who showed to me her U.S. Passport no. 443307364, with expiry date on June 1, 2018 and issued at the US Embassy Manila.

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