Philippine military vows to help identify abductors of missing activist
MANILA, Philippines – A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines maintained on Thursday that the military was not behind activist Jonas Burgos’ abduction. But he said the AFP would cooperate in the judicial process to identify those responsible for the crime.
“We would have produced him a long time ago if he was really with us,” the AFP deputy chief of staff for civil military operations, Commodore Miguel Rodriguez, said in a phone interview.
He said the AFP has been hurting from negative public perception of the military’s involvement in the Burgos case.
“Of course we commiserate with Mrs. (Edita) Burgos. We cannot fathom the anguish that she is undergoing. But to a certain degree, the Armed Forces also suffers because the imputation and the allegation will persist for as long as Jonas Burgos is not found,” Rodriguez said in a phone interview.
“It is to the interest of the Armed Forces as well as the Filipino people to come up with a resolution to this because it is eroding the credibility of the Armed Forces,” he insisted.
He said they not had received a copy of the latest Supreme Court order, but pointed out they have been cooperating with the Department of Justice in its ongoing investigation.
“We want to see what’s in the order but we will fully cooperate to come up with a conclusion. It’s been dragging for years,” Rodriguez said.
