EDITA BURGOS, the mother of missing political activist Jonas Burgos, on Thursday asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to cite former Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and several other military and police officials in contempt for having filed a false return to the writ of amparo issued by the Supreme Court (SC).

In a 13-page motion filed before the Former Seventh Division, Mrs. Burgos, through her lawyer Ricardo Fernandez, noted that the return of the respondents merely denied in general terms the allegations in the petition and suppressed vital information about the disappearance of Jonas.

Aside from Esperon, the respondents in the petition for the writ of amparo filed by Mrs. Burgos are Gen. Alexander Yano, Armed Forces chief of staff, who was the Army commander when the young Burgos was allegedly kidnapped; and Director General Avelino Razon Jr., National Police chief.

She noted that under the Rules on the Writ of Amparo, the return of the respondents should contain the steps or actions they have taken to determine the fate or whereabouts of the aggrieved party and the persons responsible for the threat, act or omission.

The rule further states that the return should contain all relevant information in the possession of the respondent pertaining to the threat, act or omission.

If the respondent is a public official or employee, the return should further state the actions that have been or will be taken to recover and preserve the evidence related to the death or disappearance of the person subject of the petition.

However, Mrs. Burgos said, Esperon merely stated in his affidavit that an investigation report was submitted to him by the Armed Forces provost marshal on May 22, 2007, which stated that the investigation failed to pinpoint the actual involvement of any military personnel in the abduction and disappearance of Jonas owing to lack of direct evidence.

However, the provost marshal in his testimony before the CA said his investigation focused on the matter of license plate TAB-194, which that seen by Ever Gotesco security guard Larry Marquez attached to the vehicle that was reportedly used in the abduction of Jonas.

The said license plate was supposed to be attached to a vehicle in the custody of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion (IB).

The Armed Forces provost marshal, Col. Arthur Abadilla, also testified he did not investigate Jonas’s disappearance as it was the subject of a separate investigation by the police.

“General Esperon’s return is not supported by the report of the provost marshal general. His return, however, did not categorically or absolutely deny any involvement whatsoever of any military person in the enforced disappearance of Jonas; rather, his return is pregnant with possible findings of the investigation which should have been included in his return and disclosed to this Honorable Court,” the petitioner said.

On the other hand, Mrs. Burgos said Yano merely denied the Army’s involvement in Jonas’s abduction, which is belied by the substantial evidence submitted to the CA showing that Jonas’s disappearance is connected with the arrest and court martial of Lt. Dick Abletes of the 56th IB.

Abletes was arrested for allegedly passing military secrets to the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and has been accused of having violated the Articles of War, and is being tried by a court martial. 

In his return, Razon had accused the NPA for Jonas’s disappearance, and disclosed that the National Police had transmitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the pertinent records of the investigation for its review and evaluation and possible filing of charges against a certain Delfin de Guzman and several others for the alleged kidnapping and illegal detention of Jonas.

Razon, according to the petitioner, has exonerated the military of any involvement in Jonas’s case despite the fact that TAB-194 was traced to the custody of the 56th IB.

The petitioner further noted that the DOJ did not find probable cause to accuse de Guzman for kidnapping and illegal detention. It even denied that there is an ongoing preliminary investigation into Jonas’s disappearance as no case had been referred by the National Police.

Thailand commits to fill in RP rice needs

IN the spirit of Asean unity and brotherhood, visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Thursday committed to supply whatever rice requirements the Philippines would need in the future.

TEN still unidentified armed men who reportedly claimed to be New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas broke into the terminal of Victory Liner on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), Quezon City, on Wednesday night and set on fire one of its buses, the police said.

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has found probable cause to indict three building engineers and five employees for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and gross negligence in connection with the October 19, 2007, blast that destroyed Glorietta 2 in Makati City, that left 11 persons dead and more than 100 others injured.

EDITA BURGOS, the mother of missing political activist Jonas Burgos, on Thursday asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to cite former Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and several other military and police officials in contempt for having filed a false return to the writ of amparo issued by the Supreme Court (SC).

FOUR men were killed in a series of police operations in Batangas on Wednesday and early Thursday morning as the police stepped up their hunt for the suspects involved in the bloody bank robbery in Laguna last week.

QUEZON City mayor Feliciano Belmonte started the ball rolling for the redevelopment of the Quezon Circle to revive it as the central park of the metropolis and give it due importance as the shrine of President Manuel Quezon. The late president and his wife, Aurora, are buried in the monument in the center of the park.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Gunmen staged an ambush killing a Marine and wounding another in Sulu.

A police report disclosed that the incident took place Tuesday in sitio Dan Puti, barangay Liang, Patikul.