This story was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 23, July 20, 2006

2 Missing in NE

BY BULATLAT

Posted 12:55 p.m. July 20, 2006

A female ex-political detainee and her son were abducted from their home in Lupao town, Nueva Ecija province on July 13. The two are still missing.

Tessie Abellera, 54, and her son Rodel, 25 were taken by five men armed with M16 armalite rifles and clubs, and wearing ski-masks, at 7:30 p.m. from their respective homes in Parista village, Lupao. Tessie’s husband, Eusebio, 58, and their daughter Marilyn, 28 were also held at gunpoint and injured by the suspects. Marilyn’s one-year-old child was also hurt because she was holding the child when one of the suspects strangled her. The suspects also hit Eusebio in the face and neck with a bat.

A source at the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL or Alliance of Peasants in Central Luzon) said the suspects introduced themselves as members of the New People’s Army (NPA), but were wearing jackets printed with “Army”. One of the suspects was wearing slippers but the other two were wearing military combat boots.

The AMGL source quoted witnesses as saying that the suspects tied the victims’ hands behind their backs, and punched Tessie in the stomach. As soon as they got out of the house, Tessie tried to shout for help but one of the suspects hit her head with a bat. The mother and son were then forced inside a black vehicle with plate number XGB-803.

The AMGL said the Abellera family went to the local Army headquarters to search for the two but the military denied that they have them in their custody, saying that the NPA must be the perpetrators.

Abellera was a coordinator of Bayan Muna party-list group in Lupao town from 2001 to 2004. She was abducted by soldiers in February 2004 but was later surfaced and charged with murder. She was acquitted in July the same year. Another Bayan Muna coordinator, Clarita Ramirez who replaced Abellera after her arrest, was killed last Nov. 14, 2005.

The AMGL source said that soldiers have been conducting operations and going house-to-house in the village after the abduction. Bulatlat

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