PROBE IS WELCOME. AFP chief of staff Gen Emmanuel Bautista in Negros Occidental. Photo by Rappler/Carmela Fonbuena
Armed Forces chief of staff Gen Emmanuel Bautista said he welcomes the order of President Benigno Aquino III for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a "focused, dedicated, and exhaustive" investigation on the case of missing activist Jonas Burgos.
Bautista said the AFP also wants to see a closure to the issue. "We welcome that," he told reporters in Bacolod City. "We want to settle it once and for all. We want to move on," Bautista added.
The CA declared in a ruling released March 27 the police and the military accountable and responsible for the disappearance of Burgos in 2007. He was abducted by unidentified men on April 28, 2007, in Hapag Kainan restaurant at the Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City.
Bautista said they will also follow the court's directive to continue the investigation. He said the AFP will cooperate with the NBI and the Philippine National Police to avoid allegations of partiality.
"If warranted, anybody in the armed forces can face the court. But we also respect their rights," Bautista said.
"The court directive is to continue the investigation. We will do that together with the police and the NBI," he added.
The court singled out Army Maj Harry Baliaga as responsible for the enforced disappearance of Burgos. Baliaga belonged to the Army's 56th infantry battalion based in Bulacan when Burgos - who was known as "Ka Ramon," an alleged member of the communist New People's Army based in Bulacan - was seized.
Baliaga is still with the Army, based in the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo. Other senior officers linked to Burgos' disappearance are also still in the military and have not been subjected to any military probe.
On Monday, April 1, Burgos' mother Edita asked the Supreme Court to order the CA to re-open the case following new documentary evidence linking the military to his abduction, including a photo of Jonas taken allegedly after he was abducted.
Bautista stressed soldiers have their rights, too. "Meron silang rights, individual rights. We respect their rights. They have the right to counsel. We will follow the judicial process," Bautista said.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/25524-armed-forces-jonas-burgos-probe
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