Saturday, February 16, 2008 First writ of amparo petition filed in Central Visayas By GEROME M. DALIPE Sun.Star Correspondent
TWO women who blame the military for the disappearance of a husband and a son filed yesterday petitions for a writ of amparo before the Court of Appeals in Cebu City.
The motion filed by Carmen Arante and her son Annie of Barangay Nagbinlod, Sta. Catalina and Rosalia Yanoc of Barangay Talalac, Sta. Catalina, both of Oriental Negros, sought to “produce the body” of their lost family members, search the military headquarters, produce relevant documents that would warrant their claims and a protection order.
It was the first petition for a writ of amparo filed in Central Visayas.
Named respondents were President Arroyo, as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) commander-in-chief; Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, AFP chief of staff; Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado, commanding officer of AFP-Central Command; Lt. Col. Oscar Lasangue, head of the 3rd Civil Relations Group; Maj. Nathaniel Villasor, civil military operations officer of the 303rd Infantry Brigade; Lt. Col. Romeo Basco, commanding officer of the 61st IBPA; 2Lt. Pututan and 1Lt. Rodrigo Jimena, both of the Bravo Coy-61st IB; and Sgt. Alfaparas and Sgt.Cañanga, of 12th Infantry Batallion.
The complainants were assisted by Vilmarie Arcilla, secretary-general of the human rights group Karapatan, in filing the motion with the appellate court.
Since October last year, the Supreme Court has allowed the issuance of a writ of amparo that, among others, compels the military to answer for disappearances or extra-judicial executions. The legal remedy allows trial courts to issue orders of protection, production and inspection “to safeguard life and liberty.”
Arante, 54, in her 11-page petition, said that seven soldiers of the 61st Infantry Batallion based in Sta. Catalina “forcibly took” her husband, Flaviano, 53, last Jan. 25, 2008 “without a valid warrant or even a justifiable cause for his arrest.”
Arante said a soldier told her that they will only “borrow” Flaviano for two days and return him “without as much as a pinch on his skin.”
Then Arante said her husband was taken by the soldiers to the detachment of the 12th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Nagbinlod, Sta. Catalina.
Arante’s son, Annie, said he visited his father at the 12th IB detachment in Barangay Nagbinlod last Jan. 27 and saw that he was very weak.
After that meeting, they have not seen Flaviano Arante since, so they decided to ask for the help of a local human rights group.
A probe team of Karapatan-Central Visayas accompanied Arante to the 12th IB detachment, where they were reportedly told that Flaviano rested only for a while at the detachment on Jan. 25.
“None of these soldiers were wearing proper uniform at their detachment, without a nameplate for identification,” Arante said in her complaint.
The complainant attached a copy of a newspaper report quoting Basco as admitting that they have Flaviano in their custody.
Later, Arante heard that her husband had been “summarily executed” by his captors.
She asked the appellate court to order the respondents to produce Flaviano. She also wanted the headquarters of the military in Oriental Negros inspected.
Yanoc, for her part, asked for the same court order after her 18-year-old son, Reynold, was allegedly kidnapped by the military last Dec. 7, 2007.
She said she rushed to the 61st IB detachment in Sitio Kakha, Barangay Talalac, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental to check on her son but to no avail.
