Intel officer in abduction case non-existent – PAF

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has challenged the veracity of a STAR account on the filing of a case by an urban poor activist against a PAF intelligence officer before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his April 24 letter to The STAR, Lt. Col. Epifanio Panzo Jr., of the PAF public information office, claimed that the complainant, Lourdes Rubrico de los Reyes, a sexagenarian, has "deceitfully" filed the case against one PAF Capt. Angelo Cuaresma over an alleged abduction and illegal detention, saying no such person exists in their official roster of PAF personnel.  

"It is unfortunate that deceitful individuals drag a respected and well regarded organization to inflict harm and insult a good name," Panzo said.

However, part of the evidence submitted to the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) by De los Reyes’ legal counsel, lawyer Rex Fernandez, was a PAF "confidential mission order" bearing the signature of a certain Capt. Angelo P. Cuaresma.

The document stated that Cuaresma is the "officer-in-charge/station commander" of the 301st Air Intelligence and Security Squadron of the PAF at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.   

Received and marked as "Annex B" by the office of Atty. Jamila Cruz-Sarga, graft investigation and prosecution officer II of the Ombudsman, the document was identified as "Mission Order NR:301st AISS-FS 06-CA054," instructing a certain CA Ruben B. Alfaro, an intelligence officer, to a secret mission.   

However, the Ombudsman has yet to validate the authenticity of the document following its routine legal procedure.

De los Reyes claimed she took the document during her alleged seven-day detention in a safehouse at the Fernando Air Base to prove that military men were behind her abduction last April 3.

She was allegedly taken at gunpoint and without any court-issued warrant by six armed men in plain clothes near her house in Area E Megahouse, Barangay Sta. Cruz, Dasmariñas, Cavite. She was allegedly blindfolded when she was brought to the Lipa air base. 

The armed men allegedly threatened to kill De los Reyes for being a "communist" agent. However, she was relieved when they, after interrogation, decided to bring her out of the air base and dumped her by the roadside in Dasmariñas. 

De los Reyes also submitted affidavits by her neighbors and friends, supporting her claim of her alleged abduction, and an official police certification dated April 5 that her daughter, Jean, went to the Cavite provincial police office to report the incident.

In his letter, Panzo said that after reading the report, the PAF "immediately conducted an investigation and found out that the name Capt. Angelo Quaresma (sic) does not exist in the official lineal list of the Philippine Air Force and is therefore not in any way connected with the PAF."

Panzo said the PAF is an organization that espouses a high degree of discipline among its personnel.

"We have time and again assured the general public and our stakeholders that the military establishment in general and the Philippine Air Force in particular, is an organization of men and women whose interest borders on public service and keeping public order," he said.

Aside from Cuaresma, De los Reyes’ complaint also named a certain Major Darwin Sy, alleged military agents Ruben Alfaro and Jimmy Sta. Ana, and a certain Jonathan.

She accused them of grave abuse of authority in violation of Articles 267 and 124 of the Revised Penal Code.