Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado said he would make any military personnel available for investigation if he or she is pinpointed in an investigation by the Commission on Human Rights of the alleged abduction and torture of American-Filipino Melissa Roxas.
Ibrado, however, reiterated that his initial “feedback” was that no soldiers were involved in the alleged abduction of Roxas in Tarlac in May…
Malacañang on (July 22) said there was still no basis to say for sure that Roxas had indeed been abducted and tortured by military agents in Central Luzon.
But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita welcomed (Roxas’s) return to the country (July 20), saying her arrival should help shed light on the controversy.
Roxas returned to the Philippines (July 20) to pursue her complaint.
Ermita, who also chairs the Presidential Human Rights Committee, said Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro has made a commitment to determine if military agents were indeed involved in the supposed abduction and torture.
– Jocelyn Uy and Christian V. Esguerra, “Military, Palace Still Doubt Fil-Am’s Story”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 23, 2009
Her story, they say,
of being put for days in a four-cornered hell
is a “stage-managed” tale
aimed at casting shame
on the Palace and General Headquarters.
Let the uniforms of soldiers
explain why the very sight of them
sends shudders down her spine.
Let the scars on her arms and legs
explain how they came to be.
And then let us see if her story
of being put for days in a four-cornered hell
is indeed just a “stage-managed” tale
aimed at casting shame
on the Palace and General Headquarters.
