Burgos case hearing suspended after Reyes’ SC appointment

Newly appointed Supreme Court Justice and then Court of Appeals Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes . Photo taken from https://ca.judiciary.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals has suspended Wednesday’s hearing on the disappearance of political activist Jonas Burgos following the appointment of Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes to the Supreme Court.

Reyes, who took oath as high court justice on Tuesday, was the chairman of the appeals court special 7th division hearing the Burgos case.

Court of Appeals Associate Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando, another justice in the 7th division, said the Supreme Court would designate the justice who will take over Reyes job in the case. They will have to wait for the resolution from the Supreme Court, she said.

Aside from Reyes and Fernando, the other member of the special 7th division is Associate Justice Rosalinda Vicente.

The high court, through Associate Justice Arturo Brion, ordered the Court of Appeals to hear the case again following the report submitted by the Commission on Human Rights dated March 25, 2011.

The high court, in its order, told the appeals court to include as among the respondents Lieutenant Harry A. Baliaga Jr. of the 56^th Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. He was identified in the CHR report as one of those who abducted Burgos.

The high court said the report contained graphic descriptions of eyewitnesses to the abduction, relevant testimonies of the witnesses, evidentiary difficulties such as the deliberate refusal of police and military officials to furnish relevant documents and fact that the military had something to do with the disappearance.

In 2008, the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition for habeas corpus and the writ of amparo filed by Burgos’ mother saying the evidence was not enough to prove that the military was involved in the abduction and disappearance of her son on April 28, 2007 in Quezon City.

Still, the appeals court ordered the police to continue with their investigation.

The case was taken to the Supreme Court, which ordered the CHR to take over the investigation as it noted that the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) committed lapses in handling the investigation of Burgos case.