Edita Burgos brings case of missing son to DoJ

Edita Burgos yesterday brought her crusade to find her missing son Jonas to the Department of Justice.

In a 15-page complaint-affidavit, Burgos accused Army Major Harry Baliaga of arbitrary detention based on the findings of the Commission on Human Rights(CHR), identifying him as Jonas’ “primary abductor.”

Jonas, then 37, was taken by unidentified armed men from a restaurant inside the Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City on April 28, 2007. He has not been heard of since.

Burgos, wife of the late press freedom icon and anti-Marcos publisher Jose Burgos, lodged the same complaint against Lieutenant Colonel Melquaides Feliciano, Colonel Eduardo Ano and several unidentified soldiers.

She also accused former Armed Forces chiefs of staff Hermogenes Esperon and Alexander Yano, retired Lieutenant General Romeo Tolentino and retired Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon of violating Presidential Decree 1829 for falsely testifying before the Court of Appeals.

“The filing of this case is just one of the many steps we’re taking in locating my son and attaining justice for him,” Burgos told the Inquirer.

The military has repeatedly denied involvement in the abduction and claimed that Jonas could be a victim of a communist purging.

In their search for him, Jonas’ family sought a writ of amparo from the appellate court, but it was denied due insufficiency of evidence.

The Supreme Court had ordered the CHR to conduct a full probe on Jonas’ disappearance and rebuked the police and military for their insincerity in investigating the incident.