PNoy should urge AFP to reveal info on Jonas - group

MANILA, Philippines - Militant group Bayan on Tuesday called on President Benigno Aquino III to order the military to to divulge all relevant information on the abduction of activist Jonas Burgos.

The group made the call after the Burgos family filed an ex parte motion before the Supreme Court based on newly discovered evidence that the Armed Forces of the Philippines was involved in the abduction of Jonas. 

Edith Burgos, Jonas's mother, submitted to the High Court a sealed envelope containing what she described as AFP records of Jonas abduction, including an after-apprehension report, names of the operatives who carried out the abduction, a photo of Jonas while in custody, a psycho-social report and a “biography” of Jonas.

Last month, the Court of Appeals, in its ruling, also found the AFP and its official, Major Harry Baliaga, accountable for the enforced disappearance of Jonas.

"There is a renewed clamor for the AFP to surface Jonas and to reveal all information related to his abduction. As commander-in-chief, it is the duty of Aquino to ensure that the AFP cooperates fully with the courts and other institutions," Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes, Jr. said.

"The AFP can do this even without any court order. The AFP cannot feign ignorance. The AFP must reveal the truth. Already, there is new evidence coming to light pointing to the involvement of the military,” he added.

Reyes said for the past five years, the AFP has not done much in terms of revealing the truth.

The Burgos family and human rights groups such as Karapatan have done their own investigation into the abduction without the help or cooperation from the AFP leadership, he noted.

"On this matter, the President must impress on the entire AFP leadership, that it is now time to come clean. It is time to end the cover-up. More than the sorties of the Liberal Party, this matter deserves the utmost attention of the President," Reyes added.