MANILA, Philippines—The Palace has ordered an investigation into the allegation that Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas had been abducted and tortured by suspected military agents last month.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who also heads the Presidential Human Rights Committee, yesterday acknowledged that the accusation was a blow to the Arroyo administration’s effort to improve its human rights record, adding that he requested Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to conduct an inquiry.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis said the case was already being investigated by the Department of Justice and that a petition for a writ of amparo was being addressed by the Supreme Court.
The petition is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity. It covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats.
Under UN scrutiny
Ermita conceded that Roxas’ allegations would again be “registered” before the United Nations Human Rights Council. The government has been under scrutiny from the international body for the spate of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances since President Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001.
“I want to know if the allegations really happened,” Ermita said, adding that information from the defense department described Roxas as a member of an organization “critical of the administration and the Armed Forces.”
Roxas, 31, allegedly experienced violations of human rights first-hand when she came to the country for a brief “exposure trip.”
A member of the US chapter of the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), she was reported missing on May 19 and surfaced seven days later. She hurriedly flew back to the US where she later recounted her ordeal in a press conference.
Blind-folded, handcuffed
Roxas said she and two companions—John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo—were abducted by 15 men believed to be soldiers on May 19 in La Paz, Tarlac province, blindfolded and handcuffed and brought to what she believed was Fort Magsaysay, a military camp in Nueva Ecija.
According to Roxas, she was beaten up several times despite her plea to talk to her lawyer. One of her captors also tried to suffocate her by pulling two plastic bags over her head, she said.
“I knew it was the military that had me,” she said. “They said I was a member of the New People’a Army and made me sign some documents, but I refused. I told them I was a writer and health care volunteer. I want the world to know what happened because the Philippine government and military should not get away with what they did,” she said.
US inquiry
Meanwhile, Rebecca Thompson, spokesperson of the US Embassy in Manila said in a text message that they had asked the government to provide details on the incident as it involved an American citizen.
“We take seriously the safety and security of American citizens and are seeking further information about this case,” she said.
Armed Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. has denied military involvement in the incident, saying an internal inquiry showed the 7th Infantry Division in Tarlac, where the incident allegedly happened, had nothing to do with it.
