Isafp MIG-15 officers in Burgos kidnap named

ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Delfin Bangit is still in denial stage. He is confident that his men and the agency were not involved with Jonas Burgos’s disappearance. Who is telling the truth?

Isafp MIG-15 officers in Burgos kidnap named

By Benjamin B. Pulta

Daily Tribune 07/10/2007

Despite denials from the chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Brig. Gen. Delfin Bangit, as well the AFP chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., that no one from the Isafp and even in the AFP is into abducting citizens, the Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday identified military intelligence officers and agents in the initial list of suspects in the abduction of activist Jonas Joseph Burgos.

An informant disclosed to the DoJ’s chief of the Task Force on Media Harassment the identities of the Isafp officers involved in the disappearance of Burgos,

In a letter, Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, task force head, yesterday ordered National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nestor Mantaring to investigate the persons who are enlisted personnel belonging to the intelligence office of the Armed Forces.

The task force had been part of a multi-department effort initiated by the executive after the United States Congress required Palace action on the country’s appalling human rights records before releasing $2 million in military aid on top of $30 million already released by the US to the Philippine military recently.

Among those sought summoned by the DoJ are T/Sgt. Jason Roxas, Philippine Army; Cpl. Maria Joana Francisco, Philippine Air Force, and reportedly assigned

with the MIG-15 of Isafp; M/Sgt. Aron Arroyo, PAF, also assigned with the MIG 15 of Isafp; and one that goes by an alias of T.L., who also belongs to MIG 15/Isafp; 1st Lt. Jaime Mendaro, PA, assigned with the 56th Infantry Batallion; and Lt. Col. Noel Clement also of the 56th lB and presently assigned at the Escort and Security Batallion (PA) in Fort Bonifacio.

Just last week, Isafp chief General Bangit claimed before the media that there is no Isafp agent that is involved in criminal activities. He has been proved wrong with the identification by an informant of at least six persons all belonging to the Isafp, yet yesterday, he still insisted that his men are not involved in the abduction and disappearance of Burgos. He said Isafp will also be conducting its probe.

Isafp agents have also been found in the past to have engaged in more criminal activities, such wiretapping telephone calls between President Arroyo and then poll commissioner Virgilio Garci Garcillano on the 2004 poll fraud operations, to ensure her fraudulent victory through a 1 million vote lead, via the usual vote-shaving, vote-padding means.

AFP chief General Esperon also denies that his officers and men are involved in any of the abductions, disappearances and summary executions of those whom the Palace and the military brand as “enemies of the state.”

The military brass continue to claim that it is the leftists and the armed communists who are into abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial executions of these activists.

A United Nations Special Rapporteur who was tasked to conduct a fact-finding mission, found this to be a false claim, as he said military elements were involved in these political murders.

He also said that the government and its military, are in almost total denial.

Justice chief relieves Velasco from Burgos case