ROXAS: PGMA SHOULD GET TO THE ROOT OF FIL-AM ABDUCTION
STATE OF RP HUMAN RIGHTS BECOMING MAJOR EMBARRASSMENT

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said President Arroyo should take a direct hand in getting to the root of the case of Melissa Roxas, a US citizen, who was allegedly abducted by elements of the military while she was here in the Philippines for volunteer work.

"Mrs. President, you are the Commander-in-Chief and it is only you who can ferret out the truth that is apparently being hidden by wayward military personnel. Give swift and impartial justice to Ms. Roxas and her family," he said, adding: "How would you feel if your daughter or sister disappears in a foreign land?"

"Let us not get into another Palparan scenario where the UN or the FBI have to come to the Philippines and make a damning report on our domestic human rights situation. The state of human rights in our country is already a source of grave embarrassment for our country," he also said.

"Even you, Mrs. President, had always been saying that the US is our foremost security ally for freedom and democracy. Do you not feel ashamed that a US citizen is allegedly abducted by our soldiers who are also fighting side by side with US troops in Mindanao?" he asked.

"Alam ng lahat na nagbibigay ng tulong ang US sa sandatahang lakas natin laban sa counter-insurgency. Ang laking kabalintunaan nito: ang tinortyur ng militar natin ay mamamayan ng kakampi natin," he added.

He stressed: "Mrs. President, you hold summary disciplinary powers over all our men in uniform. Why don't you get to the root of the issue and punish those culpable?"

Ms. Roxas, a Filipino-American who is a member of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-USA, disappeared from May 19 to 25 this year after allegedly being abducted by soldiers. The Fil-Am activist accused her soldier-captors of torturing her and two companions while she was in captivity.

In her affidavit executed on April 29, the 31-year old Ms. Roxas said she and her two Filipino companions--John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo--were resting after doing a survey for a medical mission in La Paz, Tarlac when 15 armed men wearing civilian clothes and ski masks surrounded the house and forcibly took Ms. Roxas, Jandoc and Carabeo.

In the two days when she was in captivity, supposedly within the premises of Fort Magsaysay, she was allegedly repeatedly tortured and interrogated in various ways, until being freed on May 25. She claimed she and her companions were tortured based on allegations that they are communist sympathizers and had been in the military's Order of Battle. Her companions Jandoc and Carabeo have yet to be found.