Monday, January 05, 2009 Balao remains missing after 100 days: kin
THE family and colleagues of missing activist James Balao continue their search for him even as he has been missing for more than a hundred days now.
In a statement, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said it is doubly hard to be looking for James at this point because authorities issued statements that questioned his identity as well as his family's.
This is compounded by the fact that the court has not issued the petition for writ of amparo, which the Balao family filed in October.
Balao, a founding member of the CPA, was declared missing on September 17. He is said to be a victim of enforced disappearance by state forces.
Both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) denied these allegations.
In claiming state forces were responsible for his disappearance, James' journal detailing the surveillance being done on him prior to his disappearance was submitted to the court as evidence for the issuance of a writ of amparo.
The CPA said the pattern of surveillance described in his journal is the same in the operations to neutralize members and leaders of progressive people's organizations under Operation Plan Bantay Laya. "The journal proves the State's hand in James' abduction is enforced."
The group said allegations by the PNP and the AFP are the same accusations they make in similar cases that happened in other parts of the country.
The United Nations has in fact criticized these allegations, the CPA added.
While waiting for the court's decision on the petition, the group meantime is hopeful the House of Representatives will conduct an inquiry into James' disappearance this month. (RO)
