The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that it has “intensified” its search for missing labor activists Alipio Juat and Elizabeth Magbanua after the Court of Appeals (CA) apparently held the military liable for their disappearance.
In a statement Saturday, Nov. 19, Col. Jorry Baclor, chief of AFP public affairs office, said the AFP has complied with the writ of amparo granted for Juat, an activist and survivor of the Marcos martial law, and Magbanua, an activist for women and workers’ rights.
He said Col. Danilo Dupiag, the AFP deputy provost marshal general, met with Police Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon, district director of the Manila Police District (MPD), and Police Col. Samuel Pabonito, MPD intelligence director, last Nov. 15 “to request information on the activities of the missing persons before their reported disappearance on May 3.”
Further, Baclor added that Dupiag also met with a certain Rogelio Dioquino, of Tondo, Manila, who told the military officer that he met the missing labor activists in Punturin, Valenzuela on the day that they were reported missing. The AFP did not issue any other detail on the meeting.
Baclor further stated that Dupiag also conducted a dialogue with detainees at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) who, according to Baclor, attested that they “did not see the missing persons.”
“Missing persons posters were also disseminated in various locations, especially in housing units and personnel quarters in Camp Aguinaldo on Nov. 17,” Baclor said.
Juat and Magbanua were reported missing on May 3, 2022 after meeting with fellow labor organizers in Valenzuela City.
Their families accused the military of being responsible for the activists’ disappearance as they filed for a writ of amparo before the Supreme Court last Aug. 10. Juat’s last known communication to his daughter, Maureen, was him reportedly saying he was being held inside the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Meanwhile, Magbanua’s relatives claimed they have not seen her since the May 3 meeting with Juat in Valenzuela City.
The writ of amparo was eventually granted by the CA in a decision released on Sept. 9, giving the families of the missing labor activists a permanent protection order.
The CA also directed top military, defense, and intelligence officials to conduct a “comprehensive and exhaustive investigation using extraordinary diligence” on the continued disappearance of Juat and Magbanua.
Named responders were Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, AFP Chief of Staff; Senior Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr., officer in charge of the Department of National Defense (DND); National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director General Ricardo de Leon; and Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. among others.
In response, the AFP created a fact-finding committee to expedite the search for Juat and Magbanua through a letter directive dated Oct. 5.