HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

3 Activists Missing Since Aug. 18
Abduction witnessed by hundreds of Sampaloc church devotees

Three activists were reported abducted Aug. 18 in front of hundreds of bystanders and churchgoers in the middle of a busy Manila street.  While the lone policeman who responded to the incident says intelligence agents were behind the abduction, two Manila police stations tried to hide evidences from Bulatlat.

BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat

MISSING: Joseph Gonzales and Mario Detroz. Right photo shows the abduction scene across the Bustillos Church in Sampaloc, Manila.                                                                                                  Photo by Oliver Garcia

Born one day apart from each other, cousins Mark Ryan Cruz and Joseph Gonzales, both 23 years old, grew up together in an urban poor community in Tondo, Manila.  “More than being like brothers, we were the best of friends,” said Mark of Joseph.

Mark however may have to wait a long time before seeing Joseph again. The latter, together with Mario Detroz and Rolando Comiso, has been missing since Aug. 18. Witnesses say the three were abducted by armed men in front of hundreds of bystanders, schoolchildren, vendors, pedicab drivers and churchgoers in front of Bustillos Church in Sampaloc, Manila.

Meanwhile, a certain PO1 (police officer) Nonong Alviar of the University Belt Area (UBA)-Station 4 told a team of human rights workers looking for them that agents  of the Intelligence Service of  the Armed Forces (ISAFP) under the command of a certain Staff Sgt. Batac coordinated with the police force of UBA-Station 4 for an operation in Sampaloc that afternoon of Aug. 18.

Cousins

Growing up together, Mark and Joseph developed almost the same interests. From their favorite boyhood robot toys and bicycles, to playing the guitar and heavy rock music in high school and computer games and the internet during college.

But as Mark went on to pursue a degree at the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP), Joseph had to stop schooling due to his family’s financial problems. Joseph’s family then moved to his mother’s family home in Calumpit, Bulacan but he was left to the care of Mark’s parents in Manila.

It was in his college days that Mark became a student activist under the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and later the Anak ng Bayan (AnB or Nation’s Youth).  Meanwhile, Joseph worked as a janitor at the Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) also in Manila to support himself and help augment his family’s income.

As both their families are members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a religious sect that reportedly frowns on any form of activism, Mark had to hide his activities from his parents and his church. During those times, Mark said, Joseph would cover up for him.

Mark said his cousin was always ready to help. During a student rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in early 2000, Mark called up Joseph at home and asked him to bring the LFS flag that he left behind. Joseph obliged – and the little favor became the start of his own activism.

“Parang okay itong ginagawa nyo” (What you’re doing looks okay), Joseph reportedly told Mark during the rally. It would not be long before Joseph became a community organizer for AnB and later for the multi-sectoral group Bagong Alyangsang Makabayan (Bayan or New patriotic Alliance) Manila chapter. In the 2001 elections, the two now grown-up boys campaigned for the party-list group Bayan Muna (BM or People First).

Since then, Mark said, both of them became “too busy” with their respective tasks, especially when he became secretary general of Bayan-Manila chapter. “Nakakapanibago kasi biglang malayo na kami sa isa’t-isa” (It felt strange because we were far from each other), Mark said.

The two saw each other for the last time in early August. “Nagkamustahan lang,” Mark said of that meeting. They had planned to meet again and have more time to exchange news. On Aug. 20 however, Mark received news that Joseph, together with his two companions, was abducted.

The search

From the day he found out, Mark could hardly eat or sleep, thinking of what his cousin might be going through.

“Alam naman natin yung katangian ng militar.  May kasalanan man o wala pare-pareho ang turing nila parang mga hayop” (We know what the military is. Guilty or not, they are treated the same, like animals), he said.

“Nakakatakot ang ganitong pangayayari dahil mamamayan sya na hinuli at hindi pinapakita. Paglabag yun sa karapatan nya.Nakakatakot din kasi ginagawa ito sa mismong pusod ng kalunsuran.  Nakakatakot na maging precedent yung ganitong mga aksyon,” he added.

Meanwhile, relatives of Mario and Rolando arrived in Manila on Aug. 22 and 24, respectively, to seek help from Karapatan, a human rights alliance. Together with members of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), they went from one police station to another only to be told that the three missing activists were not there. 

They also inquired at the ISAFP station in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City but were given a “clearance statement” that Joseph, Mario and Rolando are not in the hands of the military’s intelligence service. 

In an “urgent action report” emailed to Bulatlat, Karapatan said it conducted its first search on Aug. 23. It said that aside from interviewing Alviar, it also documented the statement of Mauricio Estrada, a barangay tanod, who filed the abduction incident which, according to him, was participated in by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the same afternoon. 

Estrada also reported that the victims were on board a red Toyota Corolla when their abductors, who were on board a green Isuzu High Lander with plate number WAF 195, barred their way. The abductors then took the driver and forced him into the green High Lander while another one of them took over the wheel of the Corolla.

The vehicles then went toward the direction of España street in Manila.

Cover up?

In the afternoon of Sept. 1, Bulatlat went to the UBA-Station 4 to inquire about the incident but SPO1 Emmanuel Gonzales said the abduction was not logged in their station.

When Bulatlat asked for Aviola, Gonzales said he was out on patrol. 

Gonzales also said that the Western Police District (WPD) has issued a memo banning the police from granting media interviews. He then told Bulatlat to get a clearance from the WPD before conducting an interview. 

Gonzales however could not produce a copy of the memo and could not remember what date it was issued. 

Admission

Police Inspector Roger Malto Repolloso of Police Station 4, the mother station of UBA-Station 4, however, admitted to Bulatlat that their station knew about the incident and that the ISAFP coordinated with the UBA-Station 4 regarding the operation. 

He said they had knowledge of the incident because they “monitored it through the station radio.”  Repolloso added their station even fielded “one policeman to monitor the movement of several armed men” in their area. He could not however, remember the name of the policeman.

Repolloso also explained that the ISAFP had coordinated with the UBA-Station 4 only to say that it had an operation but the military’s intelligence operatives refused to divulge any information about the operation.  “There’s a secrecy to it because the operations might be paralyzed,” he explained. 

Repolloso admitted that there should have normally been coordination before the actual operation. 

The Police Station 4 logbook looked suspicious, however. The logbook started on the month of January to March.  The incidences from April to August 18 were not found on the logbook. The next date after March 31 was already August 19. 

The desk officer told Bulatlat that the cases from April 1 to August 18 were in a separate logbook.  However, the desk officer refused to show the said logbook. He said the supply officer who holds the key to the storeroom where the logbook was kept, was not around. 

Continuous search

On Sept. 2, Mark once again searched for possible witnesses on Earnshaw Street which is near to where the victims were last seen. He asked the security guards of the different establishments in the area, pedicab drivers and vendors.

One the vendors had something to say: “Isang linggo na yung mga lalakeng may baril dito. Minsan nagtatanong tungkol sa mga paninda namin pero hindi naman bumibili” (The men have been for over a week. Sometimes they would ask about our products but they never bought anything).

“Yung isang kinuha nila ay lalaking medyo maputi at balingkinitan ang katawan” (One of those they took was a man, fair-skinned and slim), said another vendor.  Mark said the description fits that of his missing cousin.

Mark believes Joseph’s abduction was due to his involvement with progressive groups.  Joseph was in fact known to many in Sampaloc as an organizer of vendors and pedicab drivers.  He was instrumental in the vendors’ campaign against the demolition of the Sampaloc market and led the formation of the local market association.  Bulatlat

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