BY VICTOR REYES

ARMED Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has directed the Judge Advocate General’s Office to determine if the military’s investigation report in connection with the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos could be released to the victim’s family.

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP public information office chief, said yesterday the subject of the military’s investigation was not Burgos’ abduction but the loss of the license plates of a vehicle impounded at the headquarters of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion based in Norzagaray, Bulacan since June last year. The plates were seen on a vehicle used by Burgos’ abductors.

Bacarro belied accusations that Esperon is covering up for Army soldiers implicated in the kidnapping.

The Burgos family has been trying to secure a copy of the investigation report for several weeks but the military denied the request, saying public disclosure of a "classified matter" might endanger "national security" and cause "unwarranted injury" to those being investigated before formal charges are lodged.

Dr. Edita Burgos, Jonas’ mother, on Wednesday said Esperon was covering up for the soldiers allegedly involved in the abduction with his refusal to give the family a copy of the investigation report.

Bacarro said the investigation report is an "internal document" that is not normally released to the public.

Bacarro public disclosure of the report, while "not endangering the national security, may cause unwarranted injury to individuals."

"Another reason given was that this restraint is a necessary measure in order not to preempt the final outcome of the case being investigated, through the premature disclosure of an initial investigation result," he added.

Bacarro noted Esperon has vowed to submit any military personnel to the investigative agencies, specifically the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, investigating the Burgos case.

"As a matter of fact, the people (officers and men) allegedly involved…were made available to the CIDG to be investigated and we continue to do this. If there will be other persons who would be implicated, we will make them available," he said.

Esperon has ordered the admonition of three officers on the recommendation of the investigators for their negligence in the custody of the impounded jeep and its plate number.

The three were Colonels Noel Clement, Melquiades Feliciano and Edison Caga.

Clement was commander of the 56th IB when the XLT jeep with plates TAB 194 was impounded in June last year in connection with illegal logging operations conducted by personnel of the environment department with the Army personnel.

Feliciano succeeded Clement last January as battalion commander.

Caga is the commander of the 69th IB that took over the Norzagaray camp when the 56 IB went on a battalion retraining from November to March.

Officials have said the plates were stolen while the 59th IB was on retraining.

Dr. Burgos on Wednesday accused the Army of kidnapping her son and named Clement, Feliciano and Caga as "participants in that crime."

Jonas was abducted on April 28 while eating in a restaurant at the Ever Gotesco mall in Quezon City.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Esperon could be held liable for "high-level military cover-up" in refusing to release the report.

He said Dr. Burgos’ request for a copy of the report was "reasonable."

"If Esperon denies it, he is guilty of cover-up," he said.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III hinted Esperon will likely be among the first to be called to a Senate inquiry into extra-judicial killings and disappearances of leftist activists.

"With opposition members dominating the incoming Senate, there would be more support for congressional inquiries in aid of legislation against human rights violations committed during the Arroyo administration," Osmeña said. – With JP Lopez