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THE
Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the petition for habeas
corpus filed against retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito
Palparan Jr., National Security Adviser Norberto
Gonzales and several other high-ranking officials of the
Armed Forces in connection with the disappearance of a
member of the National Democratic Front (NDF) peace
panel on June 24, 2006 in Bulacan.
However,
the CA’s Fourteenth Division, through Associate Justice
Magdangal de Leon, stressed that the case of missing NDF
officer Leopoldo Maglalang-Ancheta is not yet closed as
members of his family and colleagues may still refile
the petition once they have gathered substantial
evidence to prove that Ancheta is indeed in the custody
of the respondents.
“Hence,
for the time being, the petition must be dismissed but
without prejudice to the filing of another petition
should new factual circumstances warrant it,” the CA
said in a 14-page decision.
The
appellate court noted that “there is not even a
scintilla of evidence” which could link the military to
the mysterious disappearance of Ancheta.
The CA
noted that petitioner Carmen de la Cruz-Ancheta, wife of
the missing NDF officer, failed to present convincing
evidence that her husband is in the custody of the
respondents.
Carmen’s
testimony, according to the appellate court, consists
merely of narrations of events prior the disappearance
of her husband and the actions she had taken after
receiving information that Ancheta was abducted.
In her
petition, Carmen recounted that her husband told her
that he was already “marked” and that only the military
was to be blamed if ever he disappeared.
She said
Ancheta left their house on June 22, 2006, at about 5:30
a.m. to see some relatives in Mexico, Pampanga. Ancheta
also instructed her not to call his cellular phone and
that he would just send her text messages regarding the
time and place where they would meet upon his return.
On June
24, 2006, at about
5:10 p.m., petitioner received a text message from husband asking her
to meet him at the South Supermarket in Tuktukan,
Guiguinto, Bulacan, at
6:30 in
the evening.
After
waiting for several hours, the petitioner said she
became worried as her husband had yet to show up at
their meeting place. She then called a certain Celina
Palma, the wife of Ancheta’s employer, and asked if they
knew of his whereabouts.
Palma told Carmen that she dropped off Ancheta in front of
Tuktukan Elementary School few hours ago. Carmen said
she waited for several hours more before going home.
The next
day, Carmen sought the assistance of Bulacan-based
human-rights group Karapatan, in looking for his
husband.
The
petitioner together with the members of Karapatan went
back to South Supermarket in Guiguinto, Bulacan on June
30 and inquired from several tricycle drivers whether
they had seen Ancheta in the area.
The
tricycle drivers admitted seeing Ancheta being dragged
by three armed men in civilian clothes inside a silver
Toyota Revo, whose license plate was covered with
plastic.
The
petitioner immediately reported her husband’s alleged
abduction to the authorities while Karapatan conducted
further investigation on Ancheta’s disappearance.
Karapatan later declared that Ancheta’s abductors could
be members of the military, prompting Carmen to file a
petition for habeas corpus.
The
appellate court, however, said that the petitioner’s
testimony were completely hearsay considering that the
information about her husband’s disappearance were
relayed to her by unnamed tricycle drivers who were not
presented in court.
“It is
always heartrending to see agony and anguish in the eyes
of a person whose loved one has disappeared without a
trace. And who can remain unaffected, having to listen
to the stifled sobs of a soul torn to pieces by loss and
desperation? We do understand the plight, and
commiserate with her. Sadly, for now that is all that
this court can do,” the decision said.
Those
who concurred with the ruling were Associate Justices
Rebecca Guia-Salvador and Ricardo Rosario. |
