Families of missing activists to seek help from Trillanes
The families of two abducted activists in Iloilo are seeking the help of Senator-elect Antonio Trillanes IV in finding their loved ones.
Luis Posa, elder brother of missing militant leader Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado, said they welcome the plan of Trillanes to investigate political killings and forced disappearances of activists which are largely blamed on members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
"As relatives of one of the victims, the pronouncements of Senator Trillanes gave us some hope in the more than two-month unsolved disappearance of Luisa," Luis said in a statement.
Unidentified armed man abducted Dominado and Nilo Arado in Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town on April 12. They also shot and seriously wounded human rights activist Jose Ely Garachico after they waylaid the victims' vehicle.
Detained and severely tortured during the Martial Law Period and during the Aquino administration, Dominado was the spokesperson in Panay of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda). Arado was the spokesperson in Panay of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and nominee of the party-list group Anakpawis.
Luis said in an interview that Trillanes is "more credible" than military officials who have repeatedly denied involvement in the abduction and who have promised to help solve the case.
"We have more faith in the Trillanes investigations delivering results as it relies more on information from inside the military—from people who oppose and are in the know of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that are being done (by people) within their ranks," said Luis.
"If these investigations push through, we may be able to know the fate of Luisa and Nilo and save or do justice to them," said Luis.
Trillanes said during his proclamation last week that he would call for a Senate inquiry into the spate of political killings and forced disappearances that had continued unabated since President Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in January 2001.
He said the killings have put the entire AFP in a bad light even if those in the "regular uniformed units" did not agree with "this kind of work."
He alleged that the so-called "death squads" were usually "composite teams" run by the intelligence community, including intelligence units from each major service command.
Luis said the continued killings and abduction of activists "only further firms up our suspicion that what happened to Luisa and Nilo are continually perpetrated by the same people that Senator Trillanes wants and has the guts to probe."
Luis lamented that the inability of investigators to find the missing activists
"What we find most appalling is the fact that we have seen no signs of the authorities doing their job to find Luisa and Nilo except for the constant press releases ranging from spreading rumors disguised as intelligence reports on their whereabouts up to plain admission that they are already stumped," he said.
Bayan in Panay said in a separate statement that Trillanes "deserves all the support that he can get" in conducting the investigation.
While they said they welcome any investigation on the alleged "death squads", the Army's 3rd Infantry Division said it hopes that Trillanes' investigation "will be done impartially and objectively and not merely as concession to militant groups which reportedly campaigned for him."
"We hope his advocacy will include the soldiers and policemen who were murdered by the New People's Army" said Lt. Col David Tan, 3ID spokesperson.