MANILA (UCAN): The Philippine Supreme Court has ordered the country’s security forces to confirm whether they are holding two activists who remain missing after being allegedly arrested by the military on May 3 of this year. The court also demanded to know whether Elizabeth Magbanua and Alipio Juan were safe and well in the event the pair were still in custody and that evidence be provided showing that they were arrested legally.
Both were purportedly arrested by the military in Valenzuela City, the National Capital Region.
The court issued the writ in response to a petition filed by the activists’ families seeking to ascertain their whereabouts.
“This is our only [legal] remedy except for prayer, of course. We have prayed to God to bring us back our daughter because she was the breadwinner in the family. She had the passion to provide for the family and at the same time to love the motherland by teaching her fellow workers their rights,” a family member, who wished to remain anonymous, explained.
The Supreme Court order came in a writ of amparo [protection] issued on August 23. The writ is a remedy afforded by the Philippine constitution to courts to protect citizens when their life, liberty, and security are threatened by the military, police, and other state security forces.
It covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats.
Left-wing group Kiluasang Mayo Uno [May First Labour Movement] has claimed Magbanua and Alipio were their members.
This is our only [legal] remedy except for prayer, of course. We have prayed to God to bring us back our daughter because she was the breadwinner in the family
It said Magbanua is a women’s and workers’ rights advocate, while Juan is a veteran activist and martial law survivor.
They were last seen on May 3, attending a meeting with fellow community organisers in Valenzuela when they were abducted by armed men.
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Among the security officials covered by the writ were generals and police officers including Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro.
The military officials promised they would cooperate with the court order but claimed ignorance of their alleged arrest.
“I have not received any such report, Bacarro said on August 23, adding, “It is the right of the petitioners, the activists’ families, to file the petition in court. But rest assured that we are innocent and if ever some officers may be guilty of any human rights violation, we will not tolerate them in the ranks.”
The Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines urged witnesses to come forward to shed light on the disappearance of the two activists.
“As a Church, we are challenged by our present time and context to stand for the truth. As consecrated persons, our prophetic vocation compels us to speak up and do what is right,” they said in a statement.
“We must speak the truth within the ambit of systematic disinformation, misinformation, historical distortions, and the like, as the Church will not and cannot be neutral on moral and ethical issues and concerns,” the statement said.
