President Benigno Aquino III wants a "focused, dedicated and exhaustive" investigation on the case of missing activist Jonas Burgos.
"Upon the direction of the President, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima has instructed the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a focused, dedicated, and exhaustive investigation on the case of Jonas Burgos," Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a press briefing Wednesday.
"This is in fulfillment of the President's pledge that any receipt of new evidence or leads will receive the scrutiny the case deserves," he said.
Lacierda said the investigation that would be conducted will be independent of any directives from the Court of Appeals.
"Our system of justice is based on the presumption of innocence, but also guarantees that culpability derived from hard evidence will exact accountability," he noted.
Mrs. Editha Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos on Monday asked the Supreme Court to order the Court of Appeals to accept "newly discovered evidence" on the disappearance of her son and conduct fresh hearings on her petition for writ of amparo on the basis of these new evidence.
In an urgent ex-parte motion, Editha Burgos informed the High Tribunal that a source had recently handed her "documentary evidence that would prove that an intelligence unit of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the 56th Infantry Battalion" launched an operation that led to the capture of Jonas on April 28, 2007 at a mall along Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City.
These pieces of evidence allegedly marked as "confidential" by the Philippine Army include: After Apprehension Report, Psycho Social Processing Report, and Autobiography of Jonas Burgos.
Allegedly, these have been attached to Mrs. Burgos' motion but will remain sealed until ordered opened by the court.
Mrs. Burgos told the High Court that any "premature leak" of these pieces of information may compromise her own personal security.
"The newly discovered evidence will prove that the officers and enlisted personnel of the particular unit of the 7th ID and the 56th IB are responsible for the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos; that these units captured and interrogated him and based on the same evidence, could probably continue to detain him or God forbid, had disposed of him in the manner that only they could explain," the motion read.
Lacierda assured the family of
"What we can assure the family of Mrs. Burgos is that we will look into all the evidence as they are presented. That’s the only guarantee we have," he said.
The Palace official said the investigation fulfills President Aquino's pledge "that any receipt of new evidence or leads will receive the scrutiny the case deserves."
"As chief executor of our laws and as commander in chief, the President is mandated to do justice to every man," he said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=512801
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