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Esperon, Razon, others deny involvement in Jonas Burgos 'abduction'


Former top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday showed up in a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation in Manila and denied any hand in the disappearance of political activist Jonas Burgos in 2007.
 
Former AFP chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon and former PNP Director-General Avelino Razon arrived at the DOJ with their lawyer Rolly Faller to file their counter-affidavit to charges of illegal detention and obstruction of justice earlier filed by Burgos' mom, Edita.
 
Apart from Esperon and Razon, retired Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino also joined in the counter-affidavit that was submitted to the investigation panel.
 
"We vehemently deny the accusation hurled against us for being baseless not only in fact but also in law," the respondents said.
 
They vowed to present "positive and incontrovertible evidence" and prove their innocence in the course of the DOJ preliminary investigation.
 
The respondents insisted the AFP and PNP exhausted all legal means, including carrying out their own investigation on the matter, to look for Burgos, who was abducted in a restaurant at the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on April 28, 2007. Plate number traced to military  
Jonas was believed seized by the military because the license plate number of the vehicle used in his abduction was traced to another vehicle impounded in 2006 at the 56th Infantry Battalion camp in Bulacan.
 
"We performed our functions and duties to the best of our abilities and exhausted all efforts to bring into light the cause of the disappearance of complainant's son, all within the limits prescribed by existing laws," the respondents said.
 
Contrary to what the Burgos family claimed, the respondents insisted their own investigation of Burgos' disappearance were "not meant to mislead and prevent a true and complete investigation."
 
Apart from Esperon, Razon, and Tolentino,  Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr.–allegedly Jonas' principal abductor–also showed up at the preliminary investigation to deny the charges. 
 
Baliaga, an Army First Lieutenant during the time of the alleged abduction, belongs to the 56th Infantry Battalion based in Bulacan province.
 
Another respondent, former AFP chief of staff Alexander Yano, failed to show up because he was out of town. Instead, his counter-affidavit, also containing a denial of the charges, was submitted to the panel by his legal counsel Julius Yano.
 
In July 2008, the Court of Appeals dismissed Edita's petition for a writ of habeas corpus to compel the state to produce Jonas. The CA ruled she failed to show that the military was behind the abduction.
 
In March 2011, the Commission on Human Rights, with a directive from the Supreme Court to reinvestigate the matter, concluded that the military had a hand in the disappearance and pointed to Baliaga as Jonas' principal abductor.
 
The Supreme Court in July 2011, upholding the CHR findings, directed the military to produce Jonas, something that the military to this day has not yet done. —VS, GMA News
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