DOJ clears ranking AFP, PNP officials in Burgos disappearance

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has cleared six ranking military and police officials implicated in the disappearance of political activist Jonas Burgos in 2007 but recommended charges for one official.

A reliable source from the DOJ said the agency has dropped the charges of arbitrary detention, murder and obstruction of justice against Brig. Gen. Eduardo Año, Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano, Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, former Armed Forces chiefs Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Alexander Yano, and former national police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr.

"Kaya walang murder charges na ni-recommend kasi wala pa namang bangkay na nakikita," the source said, adding that no probable cause also exists to charge the officials for obstruction of justice.

The DOJ, meanwhile, recommended the filing of criminal charges of arbitrary detention against Maj. Harry A. Baliaga Jr., an Army First Lieutenant at the time of Burgos' disappearance. Baliaga belongs to the Bulacan-based 56th Infantry Battalion.

Burgos, a political activist and son of the late press freedom fighter Jose Burgos, was abducted in a restaurant at the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on April 28, 2007. The license plate number of the vehicle used in his abduction was traced to a vehicle impounded at the camp of the 56th IB.

The source said Baliaga was the only one recommended to be charged because his alleged participation in Burgos' disappearance was “confirmed” upon review of the case.

Despite the latest DOJ resolution, the source clarified that the ruling was "without prejudice to the outcome of the [separate] investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation."

Assistant State Prosecutor George Yarte conducted a preliminary investigation on the case, and eventually came up with an initial resolution recommending charges against Baliaga, Feliciano, Año, and three John Does.

The resolution, however, was later reviewed by Assistant Prosecutor Gerard Gaerlan, who came up with a final resolution that was approved by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.

The Commission on Human Rights,  with a directive from the Supreme Court to investigate the case, concluded in March 2011 that the military had a hand in Burgos' disappearance and pointed to Baliaga as the principal abductor. The high court upheld the CHR findings in July that year and directed the military to produce the missing activist.

In a ruling last March 18, the Court of Appeals held the AFP and the PNP accountable for the "enforced disappearance" of Burgos.

The appellate ourt also pointed to Baliaga as being "responsible" for the political activist's disappearance. It later affirmed its ruling when it denied a motion for reconsideration filed by the military and the police. — KBK, GMA News