Probe of Burgos case won’t be stalled – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured the public yesterday that the investigation into the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos will not be stalled as the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the military to disclose the whereabouts of soldiers accused of involvement in the case.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB yesterday that Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista had said that while waiting for a copy of the SC decision, they had spoken with the Office of the Solicitor General to see how they could comply with the order.

“The defense establishment and our military establishment have both given assurances that both institutions will cooperate and will comply with what is set down by the SC decision,” Valte said.

The SC ordered the AFP to “submit to the court a confidential report on the present location and/or whereabouts of these military personnel and ensure that they can be located and served with the processes that the high court may serve, if any.”

The soldiers were identified in an “after apprehension report,” which was among the new pieces of evidence submitted to the SC by Jonas’ mother Edita last April 1.

The SC also directed the AFP to note the names of the members of “Task Organization-72 MICO and Task Organization-56 Infantry Battalion” listed in the sealed document submitted by Edita with her urgent motion.

Edita bared in her 11-page pleading that the documents would prove that an intelligence unit of the 7th Infantry Division and the 56th Infantry Battalion snatched her son on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

The high tribunal also ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to provide security and protection to Edita.

In a decision promulgated on March 18, the Court of Appeals special division ruled that both the military and the police were accountable for Jonas’ disappearance.

Jonas, a political activist and son of the late press freedom fighter Jose Burgos, was believed taken by the military because the license plate number of the vehicle used in the incident was traced to another vehicle impounded in 2006 at the 56th Infantry Battalion camp in Bulacan.