CA OKs promotion of ISAFP chief tagged in Burgos disappearance

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News

Published February 19, 2014 1:10pm

(Updated 5:37 p.m.) The bicameral Commission on Appointments on Wednesday approved the promotion of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief being tagged in the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos in 2007.

All thirteen lawmakers present during the CA plenary session agreed to the appointment of Brig. Gen. Eduardo Año to the rank of major general.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, chairman of the CA defense committee, said Año's promotion was approved because earlier oppositions to his confirmation have already been settled.

"In fact, hindi na nga umattend dito yung mga oppositors kasi na-resolve na lahat ng mga issues," Trillanes, a former Navy officer, said in an interview.

He added that there is nothing irregular about Año's promotion to major general.

"Normally ganyan, nagtatagal lahat sila sa colonel pero pagka general, mga star-rank positions mabilis na ang turn over nyan kasi marami na ang nagre-retire. It’s not unusual," Trillanes said.

Last September, Burgos's mother, Editha, tried to block Año's confirmation as brigadier general. Her accusations against the military official, however, was dismissed for supposedly being "unjust, baseless and unsupported by any evidence."

Burgos disappearance

Jonas, a political activist and son of the late press freedom fighter Jose Burgos, was abducted in a restaurant inside the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on April 28, 2007.

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.

On Feb. 4, the Supreme Court ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to include in its ongoing investigation the new evidence presented by the victim's family.

According to SC Public Information Office the magistrates acted on an urgent ex parte motion filed by Burgos' mother Edita in April last year, claiming they had obtained additional evidence that could pin down the suspects in the case.

On Nov. 12 last year, Army Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr., the lone lone military officer charged in the abduction case, refused to enter a plea to criminal case lodged against him.

Officer tagged in 'Morong 43' case promoted

Aside from Año, Brig. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, the commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Western Visayas being accused of involvement of in the arrest and torture of the so-called "Morong 43" in 2010, was also promoted to major general.

The Morong 43 health workers were arrested in Morong town in Rizal and detained for 10 months in 2010 on suspicion that they were New People’s Army members.

Sixteen other military officials were able to receive the CA's nod for their promotions to higher ranks during the day's plenary session.

They were:

Bayani Gaerlan - to the grade of commodore
Edmundo Pangilinan - to the grade of brigadier general
Roger Salvador - to the grade of brigadier general
Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. - to the grade of lieutenant general
Jose Renan Suarez - to the grade of rear admiral
Jet Velarmino - to the grade of major general
Virgilio Hernandez - to the grade of major general
Gerardo Barrientos Jr. - to the grade of brigadier general
Vic Castro - to the grade of brigadier general
Raul Ubando - to the grade of commodore
Manuel Gonzales - to the grade of brigadier general
Alex Capina - to the grade of brigadier general
Hilario Frigillana - to the grade of colonel, Philippine Air Force (reservist)
Patrick de Leon - to the grade of colonel, Medical Corps. (reserve)
Caesar Taccad - to the grade of rear admiral
Ricardo Jalad - to the grade of brigadier general

— LBG/RSJ, GMA News

Tags: jonasburgos, enforceddisappearance