CLARK FREEPORT – The chief of the Armed Forces in Central and Northern Luzon on Wednesday ordered a “deeper investigation” into the allegations of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas that soldiers interrogated, tortured and held her in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija following her abduction in Tarlac on May 19.
Lt. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), said he directed Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, the camp’s administrator, to conduct the probe.
Cachuela said the investigation is the second he has ordered since May 25 when reports on the abduction of Roxas and her two companions Juanito Carabeo and Edward Jandoc, broke out in the media.
Except for Jandoc, who is a native of Aurora, Roxas and Carabeo were released by their abductors on May 26.
On the first investigation, Villanueva said: “We have tasked our line units to investigate and gather information on the alleged abduction but the inquiry have so far not come up with information regarding the incident except those provided by the police.”
“Our inquiry also disclosed that no soldier from our line units was in that area of reported abduction at that time nor involved in such incident,” he said.
The abduction happened in the house of Jesus Paulo in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Barangay Kapanikian in La Paz at around 2 p.m., according to the police.
Col. Gene Pirino, chief of the Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade, which has jurisdiction over that part of Tarlac, had said his commander in the province reported that “no such thing happened to his area.”
During that time, Perino said his troops were assisting the victims of tropical storm Emong in Pangasinan.
‘STAGE MANAGED’
Although ordered to do second probe, Villanueva said, “We have reasons to believe that the alleged abduction was stage-managed to put blame on our soldiers who are doing a good job of maintaining peace and order in Central Luzon.” He did not elaborate.
In an affidavit that she attached in a petition for a Writ of Amparo on Tuesday, Roxas, a 31-year-old American citizen, reported being in La Paz as a volunteer health worker.
In the place where she was taken, she said she heard “construction activities—blowtorching, hammering and the construction bustle—and these stopped in the late afternoon and I also heard gun firing as though in a firing range and planes taking off and landing and it was loud and I could also hear goats bleating.”
She was blindfolded and handcuffed during the five days she had been held.
The camp does have an airstrip, hospital, firing ranges, a gas station, among others, past media visits there showed. Reporters, however, are not allowed to venture outside of the division’s area.
Roxas said her abductors identified themselves as with the “Special Operations Group.”
Aside from the 7th ID, the other Army units based in the 45,000-hectare camp are the Special Operations Command, Special Forces Regiment, Artillery Regiment, Training and Doctrines Command and Military Intelligence Bureau.
Nolcom, as a unified command, has operational control over the 7th ID, 5th ID, First Air Division and Naval Forces North, Cachuela said when asked for clarification. Nolcom has no direct control over other Army units on Fort Magsaysay, he said.
WELCOME
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary-general of the human rights group Karapatan, said she welcomed the conduct of the second investigation by Nolcom.
“That’s what we want them to do. It’s what they should really do, a diligent, thorough investigation, and I hope the probe would come out with results,” she said in a phone interview.
Raymund Manalo, who was abducted in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and escaped in Pangasinan, said that while he was held in Fort Magsaysay, he saw Manuel Merino alive there. Merino, a farmer in Hagonoy, Bulacan, was seized together with University of Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno. These separate abductions happened when now Bantay partylist Rep. Jovito Palparan was the commander of the 7th ID, Hilao said.
Manalo and his brother Reynaldo had obtained a Writ of Amparo. Cadapan and Empeno have yet to be returned to their families but are believed alive in the custody of the military.
Lt. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), said he directed Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, the camp’s administrator, to conduct the probe.
Cachuela said the investigation is the second he has ordered since May 25 when reports on the abduction of Roxas and her two companions Juanito Carabeo and Edward Jandoc, broke out in the media.
Except for Jandoc, who is a native of Aurora, Roxas and Carabeo were released by their abductors on May 26.
On the first investigation, Villanueva said: “We have tasked our line units to investigate and gather information on the alleged abduction but the inquiry have so far not come up with information regarding the incident except those provided by the police.”
“Our inquiry also disclosed that no soldier from our line units was in that area of reported abduction at that time nor involved in such incident,” he said.
The abduction happened in the house of Jesus Paulo in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Barangay Kapanikian in La Paz at around 2 p.m., according to the police.
Col. Gene Pirino, chief of the Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade, which has jurisdiction over that part of Tarlac, had said his commander in the province reported that “no such thing happened to his area.”
During that time, Perino said his troops were assisting the victims of tropical storm Emong in Pangasinan.
‘STAGE MANAGED’
Although ordered to do second probe, Villanueva said, “We have reasons to believe that the alleged abduction was stage-managed to put blame on our soldiers who are doing a good job of maintaining peace and order in Central Luzon.” He did not elaborate.
In an affidavit that she attached in a petition for a Writ of Amparo on Tuesday, Roxas, a 31-year-old American citizen, reported being in La Paz as a volunteer health worker.
In the place where she was taken, she said she heard “construction activities—blowtorching, hammering and the construction bustle—and these stopped in the late afternoon and I also heard gun firing as though in a firing range and planes taking off and landing and it was loud and I could also hear goats bleating.”
She was blindfolded and handcuffed during the five days she had been held.
The camp does have an airstrip, hospital, firing ranges, a gas station, among others, past media visits there showed. Reporters, however, are not allowed to venture outside of the division’s area.
Roxas said her abductors identified themselves as with the “Special Operations Group.”
Aside from the 7th ID, the other Army units based in the 45,000-hectare camp are the Special Operations Command, Special Forces Regiment, Artillery Regiment, Training and Doctrines Command and Military Intelligence Bureau.
Nolcom, as a unified command, has operational control over the 7th ID, 5th ID, First Air Division and Naval Forces North, Cachuela said when asked for clarification. Nolcom has no direct control over other Army units on Fort Magsaysay, he said.
WELCOME
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary-general of the human rights group Karapatan, said she welcomed the conduct of the second investigation by Nolcom.
“That’s what we want them to do. It’s what they should really do, a diligent, thorough investigation, and I hope the probe would come out with results,” she said in a phone interview.
Raymund Manalo, who was abducted in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and escaped in Pangasinan, said that while he was held in Fort Magsaysay, he saw Manuel Merino alive there. Merino, a farmer in Hagonoy, Bulacan, was seized together with University of Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno. These separate abductions happened when now Bantay partylist Rep. Jovito Palparan was the commander of the 7th ID, Hilao said.
Manalo and his brother Reynaldo had obtained a Writ of Amparo. Cadapan and Empeno have yet to be returned to their families but are believed alive in the custody of the military.
