MRS. Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist
Jonas Burgos, on Thursday presented before the Court of Appeals
a confidential report of the Philippine Army showing that his
son and his wife were among those suspected of being members of
the New People’s Army.
At the continuation of the hearing for the
petition for amparo she filed, Burgos testified that a military
officer whom she refused to identify supplied her with the
confidential report of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion
addressed to the Commander General of the 703rd
Infantry Brigade in Arayat, Pampanga.
"I promised him that I will not reveal his
identity. He said that he wanted to clear his conscience because
he got bothered," Burgos said, who insisted that the officer was
in no way involved in Jonas’ disappearance.
She said the report would prove that her son
had been in the order of battle of the military since March 12,
2007 and its operations to stamp out insurgency in Bulacan would
establish the motive for Jonas’ abduction on April 28, 2007.
The 56th IB, which submitted the report, was
the same troop whose personnel have been accused of
masterminding Jonas’ abduction at a restaurant in Commonwealth,
Quezon City. Said report carried a reference to a radio message
dated May 17, 2007 showing that the 56th IB has "neutralized"
Jonas, alias Ramon/Raymond/Mon/Simon, while his wife Marian
alias Mina went inactive in NPA activities.
The report further showed that Jonas, who
supposedly headed the NPA’s provincial intelligence department
in Bulacan, underwent tactical investigation.
Burgos admitted that she did not know that
Jonas was called by such aliases but she could not say if he was
really a member of the NPA.
She also said there is a continuing threat
against her family, citing the testimony of her cousin, Ma.
Carmen Bon, who told the court yesterday that two alleged
representatives of the Commission on Human Rights came to her
house in Tandang Sora twice two weeks ago and said they needed
to know the whereabouts of Jonas’ wife and daughter. –
Evangeline C. de Vera
