2 environmentalists in Central Luzon abducted, says group

The two missing women, Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro, who were involved in environmental campaigns before they were reportedly abducted on Sept. 2 (Photo courtesy of Karapatan-Central Luzon)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The human rights watchdog Karapatan has raised the alarm after the alleged abduction of two young women working in environmental campaigns around Manila Bay on Sept. 2.

Karapatan-Central Luzon on Monday sought online help to find Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro.

Tamano, 22, works as coordinator of the Church-Community Partnership for the program “Turn the Tide Now.”

Castro, 21, serves as a community volunteer for AKAP Ka Manila Bay, which has opposed reclamation projects on Manila Bay.

Both studied at the Bulacan State University in the City of Malolos in Bulacan.

They were taken by armed men in a gray sports utility vehicle in front of a public water district in Barangay Lati in Orion town in Bataan at around 8 p.m., according to Karapatan, citing accounts by bystanders.

Before they went missing, they reported being tailed by men wearing civilian clothes.

Karapatan-Central Luzon said the abduction of Tamano and Castro was the second incident of enforced disappearance of farmers’ organizers Ma. Elena ‘Cha’ Pampoza and Elgene ‘Leleng’ Mungcal, also known as the Moncada 2, in July 2022 in Tarlac. INQ

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