Lolo, inutas sa saksak ng bebot sa Bulacan

BULACAN (Mindanao Examiner / Agosto 17, 2010) - Patay matapos pagsasaksakin sa loob mismo ng kanyang kuarto ang isang 74-anyos na lolo sa Barangay San Pedro sa bayan ng Hagonoy sa Bulacan province.

Sinabi ng pulisya na naganap ang krimen nitong Lunes lamang. Ayon naman sa kapatid ng biktima na si Romeo Mendoza, Sr. at pamangking si Romeo Mendoza Jr., ay bandang alas-4 ng madaling araw ay humingi ng saklolo sa kanila ang kasera na si Perpetua Caparaz at ipinaalam na nasaksak ang biktima.

Nakalabas pa ng bahay ang biktima at humingi ng saklolo upang isugod siya sa ospital ngunit binawian din ng buhay sa dami ng tinamong saksak sa ibat-ibang bahagi ng katawan.

Habang naghahabol umano ito ng hininga ay sinasambit ang pangalang "Virginia" na diumano'y sumaksak sa kanya.

Ayon kay PO3 Nino Yang, police investigator, sa Malolos, ay sumuko naman ang suspek na kanyang kinilala na si Virginia Lopez, 25 anyos, dalaga, at residente ng Barangay San Agustin sa nasabing bayan.

Batay sa impormasyon, bagong magkakilala pa lamang ang suspek at ang biktima na kung minsan ay nakikita pang magka-akbay. Sa katunayan ay bago nangyari ang krimen ay magkainuman pa ang suspek at ang biktima hanggang madaling araw.

Nagpapautang umano ng pera ang biktima at hanggang sa ngayon ay patuloy ang imbestigasyon kung ninakawan pa ang biktima ng salapi. Hindi pa mabatid ang motibo ng kirmen, ngunit ayon sa mga kaanak ng biktima ay posibleng hindi pinautang ng matanda ang suspek kung kaya't ito ay pinaslang. (Dino Balabo)

Search For Missing Activist Continues, Supports Mounting!

Photo by Bulatlat.

The Free Jonas Burgos Movement (FJBM) calls on all our colleagues in the artists' and writers' circle to manifest their support in our call to the AFP, PNP and the GMA government to double their effort in locating Jonas Joseph Burgos, son of late press freedom icon Jose "Joe" Burgos, who was abducted on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

We are humbly soliciting your signatures in support of our call to surface Jonas and all "desaparecidos" and demand justice for all the victims of human rights violations of the current regime and previous governments in our country.

We are hopeful that we would be united in this call. Every name counts. You count.To sign, please send your name at freejonasburgosmovement@yahoo.com.

For more information call 063 4546468. Please pass to all fellow artists and writers. Free Jonas Burgos. Free all Desaparecidos.

Jonas Burgos, the son of the late press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, has kept himself in low profile for all his years spent teaching farmers about natural and self-sustaining farming techniques. But now even his captors may have been caught by surprise at the national and international furor his abduction generated.

His abduction immediately made the headlines. And that may be due to his surname. Jonas Burgos, the son of the late press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, has kept himself in low profile for all his years spent teaching farmers about natural and self-sustaining farming techniques. But now even his captors may have been caught by surprise at the national and international furor his abduction generated.

The closest Jonas would get to follow the footsteps of his journalist father was to delve into photojournalism, Jonas’ younger brother, JL, told Bulatlat in an interview during an indignation rally held May 4 at the People Power Monument along the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).

More than a hundred friends and supporters marched at least two kilometers along EDSA to demand the safe and immediate release of Jonas who was abducted April 28 in broad daylight, 12 noon, inside the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Witnesses testified that the younger Burgos was accosted by two unidentified men and was “held by the hands and feet” and taken to a waiting van outside the mall.

The Burgos family has been searching for him since but his whereabouts remains undetermined.

Human rights groups and old friends of the family since Martial Law accused state security agents of being behind Jonas’ enforced disappearance. The military top brass had denied the accusation while police authorities have vowed to locate the missing Jonas.

Farmer-activist

Jonas, the third of five children, took up political science at the San Beda College. “Pero hindi nya tinapos,” JL said, “kasi ang hilig nya talaga ay ang pagsasaka.” (But he did not complete his course because he was really interested in agriculture.)

He may have taken the passion for farming from their parents, JL said. Their parents plant organic palay (unhusked rice grain), corn, vegetables and fruit bearing trees in their 12-hectare agricultural lot in Barangay Tartaro, San Miguel town in the province of Bulacan.

The 36-year-old Jonas finished BS Agriculture at the Benguet State University. After which, he helped manage their farm especially when his father got ill. The older Burgos died of stroke in November 2003 and left the farm to his wife, Edith, and their five children.

By then, Jonas had been sharing his knowledge to his barrio mates and introduced organic farming to peasants in their town and other surrounding areas. He had since been a member of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB or Alliance of Concerned Peasants in Bulacan), the local chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines) in the province.

“Nung bata pa kami, nagpakita na si utol ng pagmamalasakit sa kapwa,” (Even when we were still children, my brother had already shown his concern for others.) JL said as he remembers his brother taking the slippers of their father and giving it to an elderly woman knocking at their door for alms.

During their younger years, JL said, they also helped in their family’s rice advocacy campaign for high school students who went to their farm for summer exposure.

The difference

Two weeks before Jonas was abducted, JL said, he and Jonas talked about the intensifying political situation that has led to unabated killings, disappearances and harassment of political activists.

“Alam namin delikado lahat ng aktibista pero hindi namin inisip na may mangyayari sa kanya,” (We knew that it is dangerous for activists but we did not think that something would happen to him.) JL said shaking his head. He said his family did not notice any obvious threat against Jonas until he went missing.

“Lumaki kami na hinaharas ang tatay namin at ang buong pamilya,” (We grew up in a situation where our father and the whole family was being harassed.) JL said. Their parents were then publishers of one of the first anti-dictatorship newspaper during Martial Law, the We Forum.

The older Burgos, however, was not able to evade Martial Law authorities for long. Their press office was raided by the Metropolitan Command (Metrocom) on December 7, 1982 and Joe Burgos, together with the editors and staff of We Forum, was arrested and stayed in prison for almost a year.

“Pero nung martial law, may warrant of arrest nung kinuha nila ang tatay ko. Ngayong sinasabi na nagbalik na ang demokrasya, ngayon lang may nawala sa pamilya namin at hindi ito panahon ng martial law,” (During Martial Law they had a warrant when they arrested my father. It is ironic that it is now when democracy was supposedly restored that one of our family members was forcibly disappeared. And it is not even Martial Law.) JL said.

Missing in Bulacan

The province of Bulacan counts for the most number ofmissing individuals since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo held power in 2001. Jonas is the 26th victim of enforced disappearance in the province.

Victims of forced disappearances in Bulacan included Bernie Santos, a farmer from the town of San Miguel who was abducted April 24, 2005 allegedly by soldiers of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) based in Camp Tecson; farmer Manuel Merino and University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Emepeño who were roused from sleep and were dragged to a jeepney-type vehicle before dawn of June 26, 2006.

Ricardo Valmocina Jr. and Robin Solano who were abducted inside the CV Tamayo Farms in Barangay Pinaod, San Ildefonso town; and jeepney driver and Anakpawis provincial coordinator Emerito Lipio who was abducted July 3, 2006.

Oscar Leuterio, a security guard of the Metal Ore Company in the town of Doña Remedios Trinidad was also abducted April 17, 2006 and was held incommunicado for five months inside a safehouse in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (ID PA).

He was released on September of the same year when he agreed to work for the military.

Leuterio, however, sought the assistance of human rights groups and instead testified in court that he saw several victims of abductions inside the same safehouse. He now serves as witness to the abduction of the two UP students who, Leuterio said, were also seen inside the Fort Magsaysay headquarters.

There are 199 victims of enforced disappearance from Jan. 2001 to May 2007, records from the human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights) show. (With reports from Dabet Castaneda of Bulatlat)

Army Handang Makipagtulungan Sa Jonas Burgos Abduction

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 24 May) – Walang balak ang liderato ng Philippine Army na itago ang mga tauhan nitong nais gisahin ng Philippine National Police (PNP) sa pag-uungkat na may kaugnayan sa pagkawala ng anak ng dating Malaya publisher at aktibistang si Jonas Burgos.

Binigyang-diin ni Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, Jr. na pahaharapin nito ang isang opisyal at dalawang enlisted personnel ng Bulakan upang maliwanagan ang pulisya sa pagkawala ng plaka ng isang trak na naka-impound sa kampo ng militar at nagamit umano sa sasakyang ipinantangay sa batang Burgos.

Handa rin aniya ang Army na makipagtulungan sa anumang imbestigasyon sa mga miyembro nitong nadadawit sa kaso.

Gayunman, mahigpit ang paninindigan ni Torres na walang itinatago ang militar at hindi nito trabaho ang magsagawa ng sinasabing pagdukot at extrajudicial killings.

Binigyan ng ultimatum ng PNP sina Lieutenant Colonel Melquiades Feliciano, battalion commander ng 56th Infantry Battalion sa Norzagaray, Bulacan, Corporal Castro Bugalon at Private 1st Class Jose Villena hanggang Mayo 31 upang humarap sa Kampo Krame.

Una na aniyang tinaningan ng Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) ang tatlo noong Mayo 10 upang humarap sa mga imbestigador subalit hindi sumipot.

Ngunit ayon kay AFP Public Information Office Chief Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro, kahapon lamang din nagpakita ang mga nabanggit na sundalo sa CIDG.

Partikular na hinihingi ng pulisya ang paliwanag ng tatlong militar sa pagkawala ng plakang TAB 194 na nakarehistro sa pangalang Mauro Mudlong ng Norzagaray, isang bayan sa Bulacan.

"We are giving them until May 31, 2007 to appear before the CIDG to give their side, otherwise they will be cited for contempt. The CIDG has the authority to issue summons and cite for contempt anybody who will ignore these summons," paliwanag ni Chief Superintendent Geary Barias.

Militar ang pangunahing pinagbibintangan ng pamilya ni Burgos sa pagkawala nito. (Juley Reyes)