Survivor of military abduction files writ of amparo

A 63-year-old urban poor community organizer who was allegedly abducted by military agents last April in Cavite has asked the Supreme Court yesterday to issue a writ of amparo for her protection.

Lourdes “Nanay Ude” delos Reyes-Rubrico was accompanied by members of the militant women’s group Gabriela in filing her petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo.

In her petition, Rubrico said unidentified motorcycle-riding men have been following her and her two daughters, which forced them to leave their house in Bagong Bayan, Dasmariñas, Cavite.

“Nanay Ude’s case is significant in the continuing fight for justice of families of the desaparecidos. She was able to survive the military abduction and now dares to confront her abductors,” said Emmi de Jesus, Gabriela secretary general.

De Jesus claimed that there are now 29 women missing and believed to have been abducted by authorities and considered as desaparecidos or victims of enforced disappearances, including University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.

Rubrico said she was taken into custody by suspected military agents last April 3 in Dasmariñas, Cavite where she was then attending a pabasa or the Holy Week tradition of reading Christ’s passion.

She claimed that her abductors detained her at the Philippine Air Force field station at Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.

Rubrico said her captors interrogated her about her alleged links to the communist movement.

“They accused me of being a communist. They kept asking me to confirm the involvement of certain individuals in the communist movement. They said they were already digging a grave where I would be buried,” she said.