EDITORIAL - Kidnapped

Oops… that press conference didn’t go well. Presenting two environmental activists to the media yesterday at the municipal hall in Plaridel, Bulacan, to bolster the story that they had surrendered to the Armed Forces of the Philippines because they wanted out of the communist movement, the AFP instead found itself being accused by the two women of kidnapping.

Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed Tamano, 22, who are volunteers assisting communities adversely affected by reclamation activities in Manila Bay, faced the media for the first time yesterday since they went missing in Orion, Bataan on Sept. 2. The press briefing was organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Instead of corroborating the AFP’s version of events, the two said they were dragged into a sport utility vehicle, blindfolded and later forced to sign affidavits claiming that they wanted military protection so they could leave the communist movement.

The commanding officer of the Army’s 70th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Ronnel dela Cruz, claimed at the same press conference that he was unaware of the abduction, and knew only what was in the statements that the two women signed. The two said they were forced to sign the statements because the military threatened them and their families.

With the two women denying that they sought military protection, they were turned over, as they wished, to the Commission on Human Rights. Once freed, the two women should face the public by themselves, unaccompanied by representatives of any special interest group, in a neutral venue free from pressure from any party in this issue, to tell the whole, unvarnished truth.

The controversy is unfolding on the eve of the anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the elder Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 21, 1972. Those years of authoritarian rule, which the Department of Education is trying to dissociate from the first Marcos regime, saw the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army attaining top strength. This can be attributed to the fact that repression and social injustice are among the best recruiters for insurgencies.

This is a lesson that bears remembering for the AFP and other state security forces. The administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reassured the world several times that it is committed to upholding human rights. What happened to Castro and Tamano, if their story yesterday is the correct version of events, dramatically belies this commitment. The two have hurled accusations of gross human rights violations against state forces, and anyone responsible must face punishment. The administration must work with the CHR in ferreting out the truth. Abuse of state power can only sabotage the gains in the counterinsurgency campaign.