By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro filed a formal complaint against their abductors on Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Office of the Ombudsman.
They gave details on how they were abducted and treated, as well as identified those involved.
In a statement, Castro said that they demand accountability from those responsible. They also called for the dismissal of the charges against them. The Department of Justice filed oral defamation against Tamano and Castro in December 2023 after they revealed in a press conference that they were abducted by the military.
Read: Envi activists dismay over charges of grave oral defamation
“This is not just a fight for the two of us but for all environmental and human rights defenders in the Philippines,” Castro, advocacy officer of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, said in a statement.
Tamano and Castro were abducted in Orion, Bataan on Sept. 2, 2023. Seventeen days later (Sept. 19, 2023), they were presented to the media by the local government of Plaridel, Bulacan and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the two revealed that they were abducted by the military.
Under the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law, secret detention facilities and solitary confinement are prohibited, along with the “order of battle” (a document identifying individuals or groups deemed adversaries of the State normally used to justify enforced or involuntary disappearances).
Those found guilty of violating the law face imprisonment. Government officials and personnel who are found to be involved in enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be preventively suspended or summarily dismissed from service.
In their complaint, Tamano and Castro said that they were abducted by armed men and were detained against their will without charges for a period of 17 days.
They said that they came to know that they were abducted by, and were under the custody of, army soldiers when Castro saw an interrogator’s open laptop that showed a screen logo with the words “70th Infantry Battalion, Matatag at Matapat.”
“I saw these on September 4, 2023 while we were still in the second safe house which they called motel,” the complaint read.
The abductors also told Tamano and Castro their government affiliations. “Most of them are soldiers, one of them claimed that he works at the NAPOLCOM/NOLCOM, while two of them are from the NTF-ELCAC,” the complaint read.
From the safe house which was called motel, Tamano and Castro said that they were transferred to the headquarters of the 70th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Bulacan where they stayed until Sept. 19, 2023.
“At the time we were presented at the press conference, we were officially under the custody of the 70th [IB] who were detaining us without charges,” the complaint read.
They also met at the 70th IB headquarters a soldier named Justin Gutierrez who visited Castro’s mother in their residence. They also saw at the 70th IB camp a soldier named “Bryan” who was in charge of guarding Tamano at the so-called motel.
The two said that despite being informed of their abduction and inquiries made by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the 70th IB and the NTF-ELCAC denied any knowledge about their abduction. The 70th IB also never informed their relatives, lawyers, human rights group Karapatan and CHR national office.
“As we have stated earlier, we were held in detention from September 2, 2023 to September 19, 2023, but our abductors never acknowledged that we were under their custody obviously to prevent our relatives from availing of legal remedies for the protection of our rights and for our safety,” Tamano and Castro said in their complaint.
Respondents in the complaint include National Security Council Assistant Director Jonathan Malaya, Commanding Officer of the 70th IB Lt. Col. Ronnel B. Dela Cruz, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Regional Office III Director Niño Balagtas, and LtCol. Mario Jose “Emjay” Chico of the Strategic Communications Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).
They also accused 70th IB soldiers of violating Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 (Anti-Torture Act) and RA 7438 (Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation; Duties of Public Officers).
Karapatan expressed support for Tamano and Castro in their second attempt to exact accountability for their abduction and 17-day arbitrary detention. The two earlier filed a motion for writs of amparo and habeas data which was denied by the Court of Appeals.
Read: Court’s denial of protection to 2 environmental activists perpetuates impunity, rights groups say
“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,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
Karapatan documented 14 cases of enforced disappearance under the first two years of the Marcos Jr. regime and 21 under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. (RTS, DAA)
