EDITA BURGOS VS

MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
By: Michelle A. Vale Cruz

FACTS
Jonas Joseph Burgos was a farmer
advocate and was a member of
Kilusang Magbubukid sa Bulacan
Around 1:00pm on April 28, 2007,
Jonas was forcibly taken and
abducted by a group of 4 men
and 1 woman while he was in
Hapag Kainan Restaurant in Ever
Gotesco Mall, Quezon City

FACTS
While Jonas was being forcibly taken out of
the restaurant, he shouted to the restaurant
manager, Maam aktibista lang po ako!
A security guard tried to intervene but he was
told that the abductors were police
officers so he backed of
The guard was able to see that Jonas was
shoved into the rear portion of a plain maroon
colored Toyota Revo with plate number TAB
194

FACTS
On April 30, 2007, two days after the
abduction, Edita Burgos, the mother of Jonas
and the petitioner herein, held a press
conference and announced that her son Jonas
was missing
It was discovered that the plate number TAB
194 was registered to an Isuzu vehicle which
was impounded by DENR and such vehicle
was
under
the
custody
of
the
56thInfantry
Battalion
(IB)
of
the
Philippine Army

FACTS
The police was able to generate
cartographic sketches of two (one male
and one female) of the abductors of Jonas
based on its interview of eyewitnesses.
PNP-CIDG presented Emerito Lipio (Ka
Tibo), Marlon D. Manuel (Ka Carlo), and
Melissa Concepcion Reyes (Ka Lisa) to
support the theory that elements of the
New Peoples Army (NPA) perpetrated
the abduction of Jonas.

FACTS
According to Emetrio Lipio (Ka
Tibo):
He was a member of a communist
movement where Jonas Burgos was
also a member of.
Jonas was also known as Ka
Ramon
In a meeting in April 2007, Ka
Baste (Delfin de Guzman, leader of
the Bulacan Party Committee) and

FACTS
According to Emetrio Lipio (Ka
Tibo):
Ka Baste instructed Lipio to place Ka
Ramon under surveillance as they
suspected him of pilfering funds from
the party and of acting as a military
agent
Hence, they monitored Jonas Burgos
(Ka Ramon) and was there and
witnessed when Jonas was abducted

CA RULING
CA found that the evidence the petitioner
presented failed to establish her claimed
direct connection between the abductors
of Jonas and the military.
CA emphasized that the evidence does not
indicate whether the abductors are
members of the military or the police or
are civilians; if they are civilians, whether they
acted on their own or were following orders, and
in the latter case, from whom.
CA dismissed petition for habeas corpus

SC Resolution 2010
The SC noted that there are very significant
lapses in the handling of the investigation
PNP-CIDGs
failure
to
identify
the
cartographic sketches of two (one male and one
female) of the five abductors of Jonas based on
their interview of eyewitnesses to the abduction.
No significant follow through was also made by the
PNP-CIDG in ascertaining the identities of the
cartographic sketches of two of the abductors
despite the evidentiary leads provided by State
Prosecutor Velasco of the DOJ.

SC Resolution 2010
PNP-CIDG made no independent
investigation to inquire into the
veracity of Lipios and Manuels
claims that Jonas was abducted
by members of the CPP-NPA
guerilla unit.

SC Resolution 2010
CONCLUSION: further investigation and monitoring
should be taken.
While significant leads have been provided to
investigators,the investigations by the PNP-CIDG,
the AFP Provost Marshal, and even the Commission
on Human Rights (CHR) have been less than
complete.The PNP-CIDGs investigation particularly
leaves much to be desired in terms of the extraordinary
diligence that the Rule on the Writ ofAmparorequires.For
this reason, we resolve to refer the present case to the
CHR asthe Courts directly commissioned agency tasked
with
the
continuation
of
the
investigation
of
theBurgosabduction and the gathering of evidence...

CHR Investigations/Actions
Taken
Search through Google/Facebook of
the names of the alleged military
officers who abducted Jonas Burgos
Procurement of PMA Yearbook
Locate one of the eyewitnesses who
provided the police cartographic
artist with the description of two (2)
principal abductors

CHR Findings
The CHR finds that the enforced
disappearance of Jonas Joseph T.
Burgos had transpired; and that his
constitutional
rights
to
life
liberty
and
security
were
violated by the Government have
been fully determined.

CHR Findings
In his Sinumpaang Salaysay, Jeffrey (witness) had
a clear recollection of the face of HARRY AGAGEN
BALIAGA, JR. as one of the principal abductors
The deliberate refusal of TJAG Roa to provide
the CHR with the requested documents does
not only defy the Supreme Court directive to the
AFP butipso facto created a disputable
presumption that AFP personnel were
responsible for the abduction and that their
superiors would be found accountable, if not
responsible, for the crime committed

SC RULING: Writ of Amparo

We resolve to hold in abeyance our ruling
on the merits in theAmparoaspect of the
present case and refer this case back to the CA
in order to allow Lt. Baliaga and the
presentAmparorespondents to file their
respective Comments on the CHR Report
The CA shall continue with the hearing of
theAmparopetition in light of the evidence
previously submitted, the proceedings it
already conducted and the subsequent
developments

SC RULING: Writ of Amparo

SC also noted that Office of the
Judge Advocate General (TJAG)
failed and/or refused to provide
the
CHR
with
copies
of
documents relevant to the case
of Jonas, and thereby disobeyed our
June 22, 2010 Resolution.

SC RULING: Writ of Amparo

Hence, pursuant to Section 16 of the
Rule on the Writ ofAmparo,any
person who otherwise disobeys or
resists a lawful process or order of the
court may be punished for contempt
The Chief of Staff of AFP was ordered to
show cause and explain why they should
not be held in contempt of this Court for
defying our June 22, 2010 Resolution

SC RULING: Writ of Habeas

Corpus
In light of the new evidence obtained
by the CHR, particularly the evidence
that positively identified Lt. Baliaga
as one of the direct perpetrators in
the abduction of Jonas and in the
interest of justice, the SC resolved
to set aside the CAs dismissal of
thehabeas corpuspetition and
issue anew the writ ofhabeas
corpus

However, Jonas Joseph Burgos remains

missing