Burgos abductor linked to ‘Erap 5’ kidnapping, new info shows

Jonas Burgos. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has ordered the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation to look into new information that the person who abducted Jonas Burgos is the same person involved in the abduction of the supporters of former President Joseph Estrada who were accused of involvement in the plan to assassinate officials of the Arroyo administration.

At a press conference, the high court has asked Elenita Burgos, mother of Jonas, to provide the DOJ and NBI a copy of the documents showing the links between the disappearance of Jonas Burgos and the so-called “Erap 5.”

Erap is Joseph Estrada’s nickname.

The Erap-5 are Ruben Dionisio, Virgilio Eustaquio, Police Officer 3 Jose Justo Curameng, Jim Lucio Cabauatan and Dennis Ebona. They are members of the Union of Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ) and were abducted by armed men at Curameng’s house in 2006.

Later, it turned out that the CIDG took them into custody following reports of plots to assassinate members of President Arroyo’s Cabinet. They were eventually released in 2007. Burgos, on the other hand, disappeared in 2007.

Last year, Mrs. Burgos urged the high court to order the Court of Appeals to admit new evidence surrounding the disappearance of her son and conduct further hearing on the case.

She filed the petition after receiving new documentary evidence showing that an intelligence unit of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the 56th Infantry Battalion operating together abducted her son on April 28, 2007, inside a restaurant at a mall on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

The new evidence include the after apprehension report, psycho social processing report and autobiography of Jonas Burgos, all of which are confidential reports of a military official.

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