SC junks another writ of amparo hearing on Burgos disappearance

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a petition for another writ of amparo hearing on the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos and referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for action confidential documents pointing to a member of the so-called “Erap 5” as one of his kidnappers.

Burgos’ mother Edita had sought another writ of amparo and another hearing at the Court of Appeals based on new evidence, including “After Apprehension Report,” “Psycho Social Processing Report” and “Autobiography of Jonas Burgos,” all taken from confidential records of the Philippine Army contained in a sealed envelope.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, spokesman Theodore Te said the SC saw no need for another writ of amparo hearing. 

The SC only granted the prayer of Mrs. Burgos to allow the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to gain access to documents pertaining to the Erap 5.

Mrs. Burgos cited striking similarities between the police sketches of the suspects in the Erap 5 case and those in the kidnapping of her son.

The documents will prove that an intelligence unit of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division and the 56th Infantry Battalion took Jonas on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, she added.

In a decision in March last year, the CA special 7th division held the military and the police accountable for the disappearance of Jonas.

However, the CA, acting on Mrs. Burgos’ petition for a writ of amparo, pointed only to Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr. as being responsible for the kidnapping of Jonas.

Baliaga, an Army first lieutenant at the time of the incident, belongs to the 56th Infantry Battalion based in Bulacan.

Mrs. Burgos believes more Army soldiers were involved in her son’s disappearance.

The military is believed to have taken him because the license plate number of the vehicle used in the kidnapping was traced to another vehicle impounded in 2006 at the 56th Infantry Battalion camp in Bulacan.

In March 2011, the CHR on orders from the SC   reinvestigated the case and concluded that the military had a hand in the disappearance of Jonas and pointed to Baliaga as the principal kidnapper.

Baliaga was identified in the CHR report as one of eight people who allegedly snatched Jonas.

He is facing trial before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on charges of arbitrary detention.