CHR starts probe; Judge to GMA: Appear on hearing of missing activist

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – President Macapagal-Arroyo has been subpoenaed to appear here Oct. 23 when the court will hear the petition for a writ of amparo filed by the family of Cordillera activist James Balao, 47 who has been missing since Sept. 17.

The hearing was earlier scheduled Oct. 16 at Branch 63 of the Regional Trial Court here but presiding judge Benigno Galacgac got sick so the hearing was moved this week wherein government counsels will be pitted against human rights lawyers.

This, as the Commission on Human Rights has started its investigation into the disappearance of a Cordillera activist amid growing pressure on the government from both local and international organizations to immediately find him.

During the amparo hearing, the government panel will include the Office of the Solicitor General, lawyers from the military’s Judge Advocate Group Services, who will stand on behalf of President Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Armed Forces chief Gen. Alexander Yano and Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, to answer allegations that government security forces seized Balao, 47, of the left-leaning Cordillera People’s Alliance.

Judge Galacgac earlier subpoenaed Ms Arroyo, Teodoro, Puno, Yano and Verzosa to attend the hearing.

A writ of amparo is an inspection order directing public officers who control military and police detention facilities where a detainee is allegedly kept to allow authorized persons “to inspect, measure and survey the property or any related object or operation.”

Maj. Rosendo Armas, spokes­man of the Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command, told the media the military will cooperate in the ongoing investigation into Balao’s disappearance, though insisting that they are not keeping the missing activist.

The CHR had joined different groups in condemning the disappearance of Balao, a founding member of the Cordillera People’s Alliance.

In a resolution Oct.10, the CHR pledged to investigate and monitor developments on the case of Balao, who it considers a victim of enforced disappearance.

Balao’s family and colleagues at CPA believe military men were behind his disappearance in La Trinidad, Benguet on Sept. 17.

“Based on the initial information we have gathered, James Balao and his family have been under regular surveillance by unidentified persons since the first week of June 2008, and (Balao) is allegedly listed in the dossier of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the head of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Education Bureau in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions,” De Lima said in an article emailed to the Northern Philippine Times..

“The CHR, pursuant to its constitutional mandate to investigate all forms of human rights violations, involving civil and political rights… will continue our investigation and monitoring of this case, as we also strongly condemn the enforced disappearance of James Balao,” she added.

In the same resolution, the CHR asked the Philippine National Police to assist it in the investigation, and the AFP to help locate Balao.

The CHR said it would hold a dialogue with top PNP and AFP officials to discuss Balao’s case and the disappearance of other people alleged to be CPP members.

On the morning of Sept. 17, Balao left Baguio to go home to his family in La Trinidad.

He reportedly informed his family through a text message about his homecoming that day. But he did not show up, and his family and friends have had no contact with him since then.
Balao, a descendant of a large Chinese-Japanese clan in Benguet, is the president of the Oclupan Clan Association.

In 1984, he was among those who founded CPA, which advocates the protection and promotion of the rights to ancestral domain and self-determination, especially of indigenous communities.

The Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) said allegations that military men were behind Balao’s disappearance were “mere leftist propaganda.”

“If the court will direct us to open our camp, then we will comply,” said Maj. Gen. Melchor Dilodilo, commander of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Gamu, Isabela that has jurisdiction over all military forces in northern Luzon.

Domestic and international pressure has mounted on the government over the disappearance of Balao, president of the Chinese-Japanese Oclupan clan in Benguet and an alumnus of the University of the Philippines-Baguio.

Cordillera police intelligence agents are zeroing in on various angles in Balao’s disappearance: the involvement of the military, police intelligence operatives or common criminals; personal dealings; or internal purging in the communist movement.