Press Release
July 2, 2009

GOVERNMENT PROBERS URGED TO GET DEPOSITION
OF FIL-AM ACTIVIST

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged government authorities to get the deposition of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas in the United States on her allegation that she was abducted and tortured by the military when she visited the country last May.

Reacting to a Malacañang statement that the human rights violation case of Roxas is being investigated by the government, Pimentel said she can be requested to give her statement in a Philippine embassy or consulate in the US if it is not yet possible for her to return to her home country.

"If Melissa Roxas cannot come back for preliminary investigation, there should be a way to get her statement before our embassy or consulate in the US just to start the investigation," he said.

"When trial comes, she may come back and testify personally under heavy guard like Gracia Burnham who was brutalized and kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf years ago."

A member of the US chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Roxas came to the country for a brief "exposure trip" but was reported missing on May 19. She surfaced seven days later and hurriedly flew back to the US.

In a press conference in the US early this week, Roxas recounted how she and two companions - John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo - were abducted by a platoon of government soldiers on May l9 in La Paz Tarlac, blindfolded and handcuffed and brought to what she believed was Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

Inside the camp, she said she was tortured by her military handlers by beating her up several times but her plea to see her lawyer was denied.

Pimentel said the sad experience of Ms. Roxas betrayed the government's duplicity as it professes to adhere to the United Nations convention against torture. In fact, he said it was at the Palace's prodding that the Senate approved the Anti-Torture Act before adjourning last month.

"Whoever kidnapped and tortured her should not be spared from punishment according to the law," the minority-opposition leader said.

Ms. Roxas has been urged by the Commission on Human Rights which is now looking into her complaint. The Department of Justice and Department of National Defense have announced that they are also looking into her case.

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