Peasant leader abducted in Isabela, says Bayan

SAN MANUEL, Isabela, Philippines—A local peasant leader was taken and dragged into a van by armed men on Friday, according to his 21-year-old son whom the kidnappers left behind.

Romulo Dela Cruz, a farmer and leader of the militant Agbiag-Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon iti Isabela (Agbiag-Dagami), was on a motorcycle with his son in the village of Nueva Era when men who claimed to be agents of the National Bureau of Investigation flagged them down as they passed the local office of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, according to his  family.

“He was manhandled and then dragged into a silver gray van by armed men.… He has yet to surface. This is a case of enforced disappearance,” said Randy Felix Malayao, the Bayan leader in Cagayan Valley.

The human rights group, Karapatan-Cagayan Valley,  said Dela Cruz had taken part in a crusade against alleged land grabbers in Roxas town, which is adjacent to San Manuel.

Dela Cruz’s family had gone to the police, but relatives and friends have also started drafting a petition for habeas corpus and a petition for a  writ of amparo which they plan to submit to the regional trial court here.

Anton Cruz, a Cagayan Valley official of the Commission on Human Rights, said his agency was  looking into the abduction.

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