AFP: 2 missing activists not abducted, but hiding from fellows in the ‘movement’

The two reported missing environment activists were not abducted by state security forces but were hiding from their associates in the communist movement, a top official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Saturday.

“There was no abduction. Humingi lang sila ng tulong sa mga kilala nila (they asked for help from their acquaintances). Una, para itago sila doon sa mga kasamahan nila na gusto sila ibalik (First, to hide them from their fellows who want them back),” AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said during the News Forum in Quezon City.

“Gusto na nilang umalis sa kilusan dahil nahihirapan na sila at meron ding grupo na ayaw sa kanila (They want to leave the movement because things were getting difficult and there was also a group that disliked them). They want peace, they want security,” Aguilar said.

“I heard that they contacted somebody to keep them safe… mula doon sa mga dati nilang kasamahan na gusto silang puwersahing bumalik sa kilusan (from their former colleagues who want to force them to return to the movement),” he said.

On Friday, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said activists Jhed Tamano, 22, and Jonila Castro, 21, yielded to authorities in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan on September 12.

National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said Tamano and Castro were in good health.

According to the NTF-ELCAC, the two activists were linked to the New People’s Army (NPA) rebel group.

Bataan Provincial Police Office public information office chief Police Captain Carlito Buco Jr. said the two decided to surrender to authorities on September 6.

They asked for help from an acquaintance who picked them up and brought them to Guagua, Pampanga. Their acquaintance communicated with another person who contacted the authorities.

Progressive youth organization Anakbayan earlier called for the immediate surfacing of two reported missing fisherfolk organizers.

On September 6, Anakbayan national spokesperson Kate Almenzo claimed that the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the NTF-ELCAC were behind the abduction.

The NTF-ELCAC denied the allegations.

Aguilar reiterated that the claims of abduction were merely propaganda.

The AFP spokesperson added that Tamano and Castro wanted to “surrender” to authorities as early as September 1 this year.

“So they sought the assistance of some people so that they can also be connected with authorities,” Aguilar said.

The two environmentalists reportedly went missing in Orion, Bataan on September 2.

The two women were reported volunteers of the anti-reclamation network “Akap Ka Manila Bay” and were assessing the conditions of the fishing communities in the coastal towns of North Manila Bay that were affected by the reclamation projects. — DVM, GMA Integrated News