5 Erap supporters ‘abducted’ in raid

Police launched search operations yesterday for five supporters of deposed President Joseph Estrada who were allegedly abducted by unidentified armed men last Monday.

The five belonged to the Union of Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), one of many support groups identified with Estrada which has been actively joining protests calling for the ouster of President Arroyo.

Those kidnapped were identified as UMDJ chairman Virgilio Eustaquio, Jim Cabauatan, police officer Jose Curameng, Ruben Dionisio and Dennis Ibona, police said.

Estrada’s party, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, condemned the abduction as a "continued persecution of individuals and groups fighting the injustices of the current administration."

The families of the five abducted men have sought help from senators allied with the opposition.

"We’re doing our best to locate these people. Three teams from the intelligence unit were formed to prioritize this case," said Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan.

Witnesses said 15 armed men in civilian clothes barged into the home of one of the five on Monday afternoon when they were having a meeting. They were taken away as neighbors watched, police said.

Eustaquio’s wife Miriam said the kidnappers’ goal was "political harassment to silence and terrorize the leaders of this group."

One of the kidnappers identified himself as a police officer but he refused to show any warrant of arrest, she said.

Police have made no comment on the possible motive.

Witnesses were able to take down the license plate numbers of the kidnappers’ vehicles — a Nissan sedan with license plates WPJ 661, a Toyota Corolla with license plates WPX 587 and a Toyota L-200 van with license plates WPM 479.

Estrada’s lawyers are preparing to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to pressure law enforcement agencies to produce the five kidnap victims before the court.

Attorney Jose Flaminiano said they are still studying where to file the petition. "We will include all law enforcement agencies. These are the agencies that can do these things," he said.

It may also be possible that the kidnappers were hired guns, Flaminiano said.

"Whoever did this could not have done it on their own. This has not happened during martial law, not in broad daylight," he said.

With guns ready, the kidnappers allegedly kicked the gate open and took away the five without presenting any warrant or giving any explanation for the purported arrest.

The gunmen upended chairs as they swooped in, confiscated cellular phones and ordered everyone else, including women and children, to stay down on the floor while Virgilio Eustaquio and the four others were taken away.

If the five Estrada loyalists had broken any law, the charges should have been filed, Flaminiano said. "They should not have been abducted."

The families of the kidnap victims have sought help from Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Estrada’s wife and son, Senators Luisa Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada, who promised to help.

"We have nowhere to go," said Miriam Eustaquio.

In a privilege speech, Jinggoy Estrada condemned the abduction as a "continuing suppression of our civil liberties and the unabated repression of dissent under the regime of Mrs. Arroyo."

He also cited reports that the military may be involved.

Military spokesman Col. Tristan Kison rejected speculation that its intelligence operatives were behind the abduction.

"As of this time we have no report about such arrests. We always have maintained that we abide by the rule of law. We respect human rights," he said.

"And if there is a need for us to help them locate these missing persons, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is more than willing to assist them."

Kison added that he had already checked with the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to find out if the unit was involved. "There is no truth to that report," Kison said.

One ISAFP officer, who declined to be identified because of the nature of his job, told The STAR that no Estrada loyalist had been brought in.

"Only the top New People’s Army commander in Bulacan, Delfin de Guzman, was brought here. Aside from him, no one else," he said.

De Guzman, arrested in May 11 in Norzagaray, Bulacan, was tagged as the mastermind in the killings of former NPA leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara.

Pro-Estrada loyalists staged a rally outside Camp Aguinaldo, the military’s main headquarters, protesting the abduction.

The kidnap victims’ families have also sought help from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

CHR Chairwoman Purificacion Quisumbing has dispatched a team headed by commissioner Wilhelm Soriano to look into the allegation.

"The government must not only look into the reported political and work-related killings but (also) cases of abductions involving leaders and members of the progressive left, labor organizations as well as members of the working press," Quisumbing said in a statement.

Soriano said the commission has reason to believe that the series of killings of left-leaning activists and journalists in recent months are "interrelated and the government must act on the matter immediately."

Leftist activists suspect the government of involvement in the series of killings of left-wing activists that leftists and human rights advocates charged was part of a military-backed campaign. — With Christina Mendez, Jaime Laude, Mike Frialde, AFP