Youth activist abducted by armed intelligence units in Cagayan Valley, Philippines

UA case type:

<p> <b>Abduction; Enforced Disappearance</b> </p>

Victim(s):

Noriel Rodriguez

26 years old
Member, ANAKBAYAN (Sons & Daughters of the People)
Volunteer of Kagimungan, a peasant organization in Cagayan Valley

Place of the incident:

Sitio Sta. Isabel, Bgy. Tapel, Gonzaga, Cagayan

Date of the incident:

September 6, 2009, at around 5:00 pm

Alledged perpetrator(s):

Four unidentified men in civilian attire armed with .45 caliber guns, believed to be members of the 17th IBPA based in Bgy. San Jose Gonzaga, Cagayan.

Noriel Rodriguez, an ANAKBAYAN member and a youth volunteer of the peasant organization in Cagayan – Kagimungan – was on board a tricycle on his way to Brgy. Tapel, Gonzaga, Cagayan at around 5 pm of September 6, 2009.

At a waiting shed, along the national road going through Sitio Comunal, which was 3.5 kilometers away from Bgy. Batangan, four unidentified men in civilian clothes suddenly stopped the tricycle. Three of the men were armed with .45 caliber pistols. The armed men grabbed Rodriguez out of the tricycle and immediately pushed him unto a waiting red vehicle known to the locals as “spider car”. The tricycle driver only remembers the last three digits (522) on the vehicle’s plate.

The tricycle driver was told by one of the men in vernacular, “You didn’t see anything”.

When Rodriguez was already inside the “spider” vehicle one of the abductors wearing a black shirt, ordered the tricycle driver to get inside the passenger cab of the tricycle. The perpetrator then hopped on to the driver’s seat and drove the tricycle to follow the abductors’ vehicle towards the direction of Bgy. Calayan.

Upon reaching Brgy. Calayan, the abductor alighted from the tricycle and transferred to the “spider” car. The vehicle then drove off towards the direction of Sta. Ana, Cagayan leaving the tricycle behind. The tricycle driver believed that Rodriguez was brought to the 17th IBPA based in San Jose, Gonzaga, Cagayan, since the spider cars were often seen as being used by the intelligence unit of the 17th IBPA.

Rodriguez is a volunteer of Kagimungan under Anakbayan’s community integration program, a program which allows the youth and students to integrate and work with the poor and different sectors of society.

The Karapatan-Cagayan Valley chapter conducted a search and fact-finding mission on September 15. The team inquired at the camps of 17th IBPA detachments in Bgy. San Jose Gonzaga and the Cagayan Police Provincial Station in Bgy. Sta. Ana. The officers of the military and police denied that they have custody of Rodriguez.

Recommended action:

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into abduction and enforced disappearance of Noriel Rodriguez.
The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.

You may send your communications to:

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

President of the Republic

Malacañang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila Philippines

Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462

E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

Gen. Avelino Razon, Ret. PNP

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process

Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)

7th Floor Agustin Building I

Emerald Avenue, Pasig City 1605

Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066

Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216

osec@opapp.gov.ph

Atty. Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr.

Secretary, Department of National Defense

Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,

E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City

Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488

Fax:+63(2) 911 6213

Email: osnd@philonline.com

Atty. Agnes VST Devanadera

Secretary, Department of Justice

Padre Faura St., Manila

Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721

Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.214

Fax: (+632) 521-1614

Email: soj@doj.gov.ph

Atty. Leila De Lima

Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights

SAAC Bldg., UP Complex

Commonwealth Avenue

Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188

Fax: (+632) 929 0102

Email: chr.delima_at_yahoo.com

Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address below.

URGENT ACTION Prepared by:

KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights)

National Office

2/F Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts., Brgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES

Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146