No progress in search for Jonas Burgos, says PNP

There is still no progress in the search for missing activist Jonas Burgos, after the Supreme Court last week ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to produce him, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has admitted.

“Sad to say, it’s really a blank wall up to now,” said PNP Director General Raul M. Bacalzo in an ambush interview on Monday.

The Supreme Court had ordered that the chief of the PNP and the head of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group be impleaded in a habeas corpus petition filed by Burgos’ mother Edita Burgos.

The Court of Appeals had previously junked the petition but it was overruled by the high tribunal which ordered the appellate court to decide on the petition in 30 days.

“We have been a part of [the search],” Bacalzo conceded, adding that it was the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group that was investigating Burgos’ abduction from a Quezon City mall in April 2007, but so far the police could not show any results.

“With the decision of the Supreme Court, we are coordinating closely with the AFP,” he said.

Burgos was abducted allegedly by military elements. The vehicle in which he was taken away was found in an Army camp in Bulacan yet the AFP continues to deny having him in its custody.