HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
3
Activists Missing Since Aug. 18
Abduction witnessed by
hundreds of Sampaloc church devotees
Three
activists were reported abducted Aug. 18 in front of hundreds of
bystanders and churchgoers in the middle of a busy Manila street.
While the lone policeman who responded to the incident says
intelligence agents were behind the abduction, two Manila police stations
tried to hide evidences from Bulatlat.
BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
MISSING:
Joseph Gonzales and Mario Detroz. Right photo shows the abduction scene
across the Bustillos Church in Sampaloc,
Manila.
Photo by Oliver Garcia
Born
one day apart from each other, cousins Mark Ryan Cruz and Joseph Gonzales,
both 23 years old, grew up together in an urban poor community in Tondo,
Manila. “More than being like brothers, we were the best of
friends,” said Mark of Joseph.
Mark
however may have to wait a long time before seeing Joseph again. The
latter, together with Mario Detroz and Rolando Comiso, has been missing
since Aug. 18. Witnesses say the three were abducted by armed men in front
of hundreds of bystanders, schoolchildren, vendors, pedicab drivers and
churchgoers in front of Bustillos Church in Sampaloc, Manila.
Meanwhile,
a certain PO1 (police officer) Nonong Alviar of the University Belt Area (UBA)-Station
4 told a team of human rights workers looking for them that agents
of the Intelligence Service of
the Armed Forces (ISAFP) under the command of a certain Staff Sgt.
Batac coordinated with the police force of UBA-Station 4 for an operation
in Sampaloc that afternoon of Aug. 18.
Cousins
Growing
up together, Mark and Joseph developed almost the same interests. From
their favorite boyhood robot toys and bicycles, to playing the guitar and
heavy rock music in high school and computer games and the internet during
college.
But
as Mark went on to pursue a degree at the Technological Institute of the
Philippines (TIP), Joseph had to stop schooling due to his family’s
financial problems. Joseph’s family then moved to his mother’s family
home in Calumpit, Bulacan but he was left to the care of Mark’s parents
in Manila.
It
was in his college days that Mark became a student activist under the
League of Filipino Students (LFS) and later the Anak ng Bayan (AnB or
Nation’s Youth). Meanwhile, Joseph worked as a janitor at the Mapua Institute
of Technology (MIT) also in Manila to support himself and help augment his
family’s income.
As
both their families are members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a
religious sect that reportedly frowns on any form of activism, Mark had to
hide his activities from his parents and his church. During those times,
Mark said, Joseph would cover up for him.
Mark
said his cousin was always ready to help. During a student rally in front
of the U.S. Embassy in early 2000, Mark called up Joseph at home and asked
him to bring the LFS flag that he left behind. Joseph obliged – and the
little favor became the start of his own activism.
“Parang
okay itong ginagawa nyo” (What you’re doing looks okay), Joseph
reportedly told Mark during the rally. It would not be long before Joseph
became a community organizer for AnB and later for the multi-sectoral
group Bagong Alyangsang Makabayan (Bayan or New patriotic Alliance) Manila
chapter. In the 2001 elections, the two now grown-up boys campaigned for
the party-list group Bayan Muna (BM or People First).
Since
then, Mark said, both of them became “too busy” with their respective
tasks, especially when he became secretary general of Bayan-Manila
chapter. “Nakakapanibago kasi biglang malayo na kami sa isa’t-isa”
(It felt strange because we were far from each other), Mark said.
The
two saw each other for the last time in early August. “Nagkamustahan
lang,” Mark said of that meeting. They had planned to meet again and
have more time to exchange news. On Aug. 20 however, Mark received news
that Joseph, together with his two companions, was abducted.
The search
From
the day he found out, Mark could hardly eat or sleep, thinking of what his
cousin might be going through.
“Alam
naman natin yung katangian ng militar.
May kasalanan man o wala pare-pareho ang turing nila parang mga
hayop” (We know what the military is. Guilty or not, they are
treated the same, like animals), he said.
“Nakakatakot
ang ganitong pangayayari dahil mamamayan sya na hinuli at hindi pinapakita.
Paglabag yun sa karapatan nya.Nakakatakot din kasi ginagawa ito sa mismong
pusod ng kalunsuran. Nakakatakot
na maging precedent yung ganitong mga aksyon,” he added.
Meanwhile,
relatives of Mario and Rolando arrived in Manila on Aug. 22 and 24,
respectively, to seek help from Karapatan, a human rights alliance.
Together with members of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of
People’s Rights), they went from one police station to another only to
be told that the three missing activists were not there.
They
also inquired at the ISAFP station in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City but were
given a “clearance statement” that Joseph, Mario and Rolando are not
in the hands of the military’s intelligence service.
In
an “urgent action report” emailed to Bulatlat, Karapatan said
it conducted its first search on Aug. 23. It said that aside from
interviewing Alviar, it also documented the statement of Mauricio Estrada,
a barangay tanod, who filed the abduction incident which, according to
him, was participated in by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on
the same afternoon.
Estrada
also reported that the victims were on board a red Toyota Corolla when
their abductors, who were on board a green Isuzu High Lander with plate
number WAF 195, barred their way. The abductors then took the driver and
forced him into the green High Lander while another one of them took over
the wheel of the Corolla.
The
vehicles then went toward the direction of España street in Manila.
Cover up?
In
the afternoon of Sept. 1, Bulatlat went to the UBA-Station 4 to
inquire about the incident but SPO1 Emmanuel Gonzales said the abduction
was not logged in their station.
When
Bulatlat asked for Aviola, Gonzales said he was out on patrol.
Gonzales
also said that the Western Police District (WPD) has issued a memo banning
the police from granting media interviews. He then told Bulatlat to
get a clearance from the WPD before conducting an interview.
Gonzales
however could not produce a copy of the memo and could not remember what
date it was issued.
Admission
Police
Inspector Roger Malto Repolloso of Police Station 4, the mother station of
UBA-Station 4, however, admitted to Bulatlat that their station
knew about the incident and that the ISAFP coordinated with the UBA-Station
4 regarding the operation.
He
said they had knowledge of the incident because they “monitored it
through the station radio.” Repolloso
added their station even fielded “one policeman to monitor the movement
of several armed men” in their area. He could not however, remember the
name of the policeman.
Repolloso
also explained that the ISAFP had coordinated with the UBA-Station 4 only
to say that it had an operation but the military’s intelligence
operatives refused to divulge any information about the operation.
“There’s a secrecy to it because the operations might be
paralyzed,” he explained.
Repolloso
admitted that there should have normally been coordination before the
actual operation.
The
Police Station 4 logbook looked suspicious, however. The logbook started
on the month of January to March. The
incidences from April to August 18 were not found on the logbook. The next
date after March 31 was already August 19.
The
desk officer told Bulatlat that the cases from April 1 to August 18
were in a separate logbook. However,
the desk officer refused to show the said logbook. He said the supply
officer who holds the key to the storeroom where the logbook was kept, was
not around.
Continuous
search
On
Sept. 2, Mark once again searched for possible witnesses on Earnshaw
Street which is near to where the victims were last seen. He asked the
security guards of the different establishments in the area, pedicab
drivers and vendors.
One
the vendors had something to say: “Isang linggo na yung mga lalakeng
may baril dito. Minsan nagtatanong tungkol sa mga paninda namin pero hindi
naman bumibili” (The men have been for over a week. Sometimes they
would ask about our products but they never bought anything).
“Yung
isang kinuha nila ay lalaking medyo maputi at balingkinitan ang katawan”
(One of those they took was a man, fair-skinned and slim), said another
vendor. Mark said the
description fits that of his missing cousin.
Mark
believes Joseph’s abduction was due to his involvement with progressive
groups. Joseph was in fact
known to many in Sampaloc as an organizer of vendors and pedicab drivers. He was instrumental in the vendors’ campaign against the
demolition of the Sampaloc market and led the formation of the local
market association. Bulatlat
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