Rights group KARAPATAN expresses support in the filing of violations of the law against enforced disappearance by abduction survivors Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano on Wednesday at the Office of Ombudsman.
Among those impleaded in the case, for violation of Sections 4 (b), sub-paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 11 of Republic Act No. 10353 or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012, are National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Lieutenant Colonel Ronnel B. Dela Cruz, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Region IIIl Director, Niño Balagtas, LtCol. Mario Jose “Emjay” Chico of the Strategic Communications Cluster of the NTF-ELCAC, Police Captain Carlito Buco, Chief Public Information Officer of the Bataan Provincial Police Office of the Philippine National Police, PCPT Silvestre C. Colanza, Officer-in-Charge of Orion Municipal Police, 2LT Junrey Caballeda, acting Civil Military Operations Officer of the 70th IB, 1Lt. Sherwin C. Momo, intelligence officer of the 70IB, Justin Gutierrez and Manny Trinidad Timbol, soldiers of the 70th Infantry Battalion, individuals namely Allan, CJ, Jak, and Bryan who are soldiers or acting under the direction and control of the 70th Infantry Battalion and Mark Leo Santos from the NTF ELCAC.
Enacted under Pres. Benigno Aquino III, RA 10353 penalizes the crime of carrying out an enforced disappearance by life imprisonment.
The respondents are also charged of violation of Republic Act No. 74388 or the Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation, Arbitrary Detention and Grave Coercion under the Revised Penal Code.
This is the second attempt by Jonila and Jhed to exact accountability for their abduction and 17-day arbitrary detention in the hands of military forces and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) who falsely portrayed them as surrenderees.
An earlier motion for writs of amparo and habeas data has been denied by the Court of Appeals, which raised doubts about their abduction and disregarded the ordeal they suffered in the hands of their abductors and the continuing threats to their lives, liberty and security.
Jonila and Jhed, both community organizers working against the environmentally destructive Manila Bay reclamation projects, were seized in Orion, Bataan on September 2, 2023. For 17 days, they were subjected to physical, mental and psychological torture and coerced into signing an affidavit stating that they were surrendering to the government. In exchange, they would be surfaced but required to denounce their organizations and advocacies.
In a stunning turnaround, Jonila and Jhed courageously disclosed before a press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC that they had indeed been abducted and had not surrendered. They disowned their sworn affidavit for having been executed under duress. They have since been threatened and vilified by the NTF-ELCAC, which even filed a retaliatory case of grave oral defamation against the two activists.
Said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, “We fully support Jonila and Jhed’s continuing quest for justice and accountability for the ordeal they suffered. We also hope their action draws attention to the other cases of abductions and enforced disappearance in the country and the culture of impunity that has been shielding perpetrators of this heinous crime.”
To date, Karapatan has documented 14 cases of enforced disappearance under the first two years of the Marcos Jr. regime and 21 under the Duterte regime.