The Disappearance of A Rose

Ponciana Tobello, a schoolteacher, sent her niece Rosa on an errand to buy medicine available only in Catbalogan, Western Samar, about four hours away by bus from their village. The girl was told to be back home in San Roque, Northern Samar on August 22, a day later. It was the last time Rosa would be seen. 

By Angel Moti
Bulatlat.com

An acquaintance who was in the same Eagle Star bus she rode in saw that a man beside Rosa had been talking closely to her since coming aboard in front of the 8^th Infantry Division headquarters in Camp Lucban, Maulong, Catbalogan. This man, the acquaintance would later say, regularly rides to and from the military camp. Alighting at 8 p.m. in Catarman, capital of Northern Samar, the witness saw the man still talking to her.

Sometimes, by some strange misfortune, young girls in this country do disappear on voyages to nowhere. But the ones who could be most interested in this missing rose are no common criminals. Rosa Guadiana is the 18-year-old daughter of Dodong Peñaranda, a ranking Visayas official of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and also a consultant in the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDF. Whoever took her may have had an interest in derailing the peace process and distressing her father, or in compelling him to give up arms against the government. According to relatives, it could only have been the military, especially the Philippine Army’s 8^th Infantry Division under Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez.  

Rosa Guadiana

The beginning of the search

Worried, the girl’s Aunt Poncing began searching for her among friends and relatives in Northern Samar. Not turning up a clue by Sept. 2, she made the Catarman police note down the case in their blotter. She also aired an appeal over radio station DYSM. She even went all the way to San Julian, Eastern Samar, where Rosa had grown up under the care of another aunt. Her efforts proved fruitless.

Fr. Pete Lucero is one of the acquaintances whom Rosa’s aunt contacted. Lucero is a resident of Catbalogan who frequently commutes to Catarman. He is also a former political detainee of the Marcos dictatorship. Lucero was on the bus that Rosa rode in, positively identifying the teener from a photograph shown by Aunt Poncing. He described the man seated beside Rosa as in his 20s, of average build, pale-skinned, good-looking, bearded and 5’ 4” in height. He added that he often sees the man getting off at Camp Lucban. Lucero and Aunt Poncing both made affidavits to give their testimonies on the case.

Fearing the worst, Aunt Poncing sought the help of the human rights group Katungod-Northern Samar. Katungod in turn coordinated with the national human rights alliance Karapatan to help in the search. A letter informing the International Committee of the Red Cross of the case was sent on Sept. 8. Press releases by Katungod on Rosa’s disappearance were sent on Sept. 22 to Tacloban City radio stations DYDW, DYWR and DYVL, as well as TV station ABS-CBN and the Leyte-Samar Daily Express.   

Katungod’s press releases exposing Rosa’s disappearance and the military’s possible hand were aired in Sept. 23-24 over FM radio stations in the towns of Catubig, Laoang, Catarman, Bobon, San Jose and Allen, as well as in the University of Eastern Philippines. By Sept. 25, human rights groups organized Task Force Rosa, composed of Rosa’s relatives and supporters from among church activists, mass media, local government units, lawyers and human rights advocates.

Squirming at the accusing finger pointed at them, the military snapped back. In media statements, Lt. Col. Norberto Alindayon of the 63^rd Infantry Battalion in Northern Samar defiantly dismissed Rosa Guadiana’s case as “purely NPA propaganda.” He also reportedly menaced the people to “choose between the NPA and the Army.” Alindayon’s crude statements were answered on radio by Task Force Rosa, which chided the military for belittling a serious human rights violation.

A victim of Macapagal-Arroyo’s all-out war

In a statement to the press on the 40^th day of her disappearance on Oct. 1, the NDFP formally announced the abduction of “Rosa Guadiana, lovely 18-year-old daughter of Dodong Peñaranda, a consultant… in the peace negotiations…” The NDFP charged in no uncertain terms that she was seized “by elements of the Philippine Army’s 8^th Infantry Division.”  According to the NDFP, young Rosa fell victim to the Macapagal-Arroyo regime’s all-out war and its rampant violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Warning of worse violations to come because of US direction and support for the regime’s all-out war, the revolutionary group issued a public appeal to support the search and the demand for justice for Rosa.   

The following day, Task Force Rosa members sought an audience with the 801^st Brigade in Catarman. They were able to talk to Col. Cesar Tiongson and Maj. Romeo Argenio, but to no avail; the army officials denied any knowledge of Rosa’s whereabouts. In the first week of October, the searchers faced nothing but false leads and deaf ears. A visit to Camp Lucban in Catbalogan was also unsuccessful. Held up by hope, Task Force Rosa sent out details of the case to human rights advocates in Negros and Cebu, to link hands in a common effort.

Caught under a magnifying glass because of the NDFP’s firm accusation, Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez of the 8^th Infantry Division on October 10 issued a statement of denial dripping with hostility. Dominguez even hinted that the NPAs may have kidnapped her to create a scenario and pin it on the army. Dominguez then lambasted the NPA for “recruiting minors” and the NDFP for allegedly capitalizing on the case.  

Hope for a missing rose

There are many victims of the government’s all-out war policy in Eastern Visayas, but Rosa Guadiana is the only desaparecido this year. It is the reason why those who continue the search for her are planning to give the case bigger prominence by campaigning on the national level. They believe that Rosa’s abduction by the military portends a dark season of worsening violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the region. 

For Rosa Guadiana’s family and friends, the longing that their missing rose will turn up alive and well will never fade. Bulatlat.com

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