On the night of October 27, 22-year-old Luisito Bustamante and his friends and younger sister Libby were on their way to Malabog to distribute handbills for the approaching barangay elections when they were accosted at a checkpoint by elements of the Task Force Davao. Bustamante was held and has not been found since.

BY GERMELINA A. LACORTE
Davao Today
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 40, November 11-17, 2007

The mother of a 22-year-old youth reported missing in barangay Malabog, Paquibato district since over a week ago has filed a petition for writ of amparo before the Regional Trial Court seeking for the release of her son.

Bebelita Bustamante, 47, has filed the petition before the clerk of court of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) here 11 days after her son, Luisito “Yongyong” Bustamante, was allegedly held for questioning by elements of the Task Force Davao and was never returned.

Named as respondents are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, PNP Dir. General Avelino Razon, Major. General Ernesto Boac, 10th ID, Lt. Col. Alexander Ambal, 73rd IB Co., Col. Alan Luga, Task Force Davao; Noli Ubat and seven John Does.
At about 6 p.m. of October 27, the 22 year old Bustamante—with friends and his younger sister Libby—were on their way to Malabog proper to distribute handbills for the approaching barangay elections; when Bustamante was held at a checkpoint by elements of the Task Force Davao, headed by Noli Ubat, a resident of barangay Malabog and member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU).

According to the affidavits by his friends Avelino Lorenzana, Jr., 20, and Salazar Amad, 23, Amad had asked Ubat to accompany Bustamante but Ubat refused, saying that they were holding him because he was a member of the Communist New People’s Army.

In a separate affidavit, Ederlita Lorenzana, 56, a neighbor, said that a day after Bustamante was held, a habal-habal (motorcycle) driver named Alberto Gallardo told them he had seen the youth on a motorcycle with men in military uniforms belonging to the 73rd IB camp in Paquibato Proper.

Lorenzana also said that Ubat had sent her a text message saying that Bustamante was a Communist New People’s Army (NPA) member, and that was the reason for holding him. His mother said he had no other involvement except as member of the Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKK) in their barangay.

The petition for the writ of amparo came a day after Supreme Court Justice Reynato Puno delivered a four-hour lecture to a mixed group of lawyers, judges, prosecutors and policemen inside the University of Mindanao-Matina campus here.

Puno said that the writ of amparo, which comes from the Spanish word “amparar,” (meaning, to protect), will hopefully provide a “legal remedy” for those whose lives, liberty and security are threatened because of their political beliefs.

Kelly Delgado, secretary-general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao, said his group remains hopeful that the petition for writ of amparo, the first to be filed in Mindanao, will save the life of Bustamante and other missing persons in Mindanao.

“We hope that the writ of amparo will help speed up the release of missing persons, especially those with political inclinations,” said Delgado, “We hope that it will limit the brutality of state forces against those whom they perceive as critical of the government. We are happy that unlike the President and military who are in constant state of denial about the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances happening in the country, the Supreme Court recognizes the problem and is doing something to protect the rights of the people.” Davao Today / Posted by (Bulatlat.com)

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