[In the news] Eyewitness identifies Army major as one of Jonas’s abductors – bulatlat.com

Eyewitness identifies Army major as one of Jonas’s abductors The eyewitness, a busboy at the restaurant where Jonas Burgos was abducted, said he was about to help Jonas when a woman and three men approached him, one after another, to tell him not to intervene. One of them he later identified as Maj. Harry Baliaga…

Human Rights Online Philippines

September 7, 2011

2–3 minutes

Armed Forces of the Philippines, Baguio, Human Right, Irisan, Manila, Philippine, Quezon City, United State

Eyewitness identifies Army major as one of Jonas’s abductors

The eyewitness, a busboy at the restaurant where Jonas Burgos was abducted, said he was about to help Jonas when a woman and three men approached him, one after another, to tell him not to intervene. One of them he later identified as Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr, who was then assigned to the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Even after knowing by heart the full details of when and how Joseph Jonas Burgos was abducted on April 28, 2007, Mrs. Edita Burgos, his mother, still listened intently as the story was told by an eyewitness.

“It feels like we are back to where we began. Every time there is a hearing, I am always tense. Every time there is a new witness, I always hope that (she or he) would give concrete testimony and lead us to Jonas’s whereabouts,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat.com.

Jeffrey Cabintoy, 27, according to Mrs. Burgos, described in a hearing before the Court of Appeals on September 1 how Jonas’s abductors took him from Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth, Quezon City more than four years ago. Cabintoy, a busboy in the restaurant at that time, identified Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr, who was then assigned to the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as one of the people who took Jonas.

Joseph Jonas Burgos, son of press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr., was abducted on April 28, 2007 inside a mall in Quezon City. His family, friends and comrades continue to search for him to this day.

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