of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

96
VICTIM: Francis Desacula
INCIDENT: Disappearance
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
730th Combat Group air
force personnel
DATE: 9 January 2006
AHRC UA-042-2006
97
VICTIM:
Ustadz Habib Darupo
INCIDENTS:
Abudction, torture
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Four unidentified armed men
DATE: 24 October 2006
AHRC UA-363-2006
98
Francis Noel Desacula: “Don’t get mad, I will be home”
On 9 January 2006, after 3pm, elements of the 730th Combat
Group, Philippine Air Force set up a checkpoint in Barangay
Malinis, Lemery, Batangas. Thirty personnel conducted
inspections along the highway. Francis Noel Desacula (35) went
missing at that time, as he was on his way home on the same
highway. His wife Ana expected him to return home that day but
he did not. Instead, he briefly spoke to her on his mobile phone
and told her that he would come home after finishing his work,
but he did not mention his whereabouts.
On January 10, at 7:30am Desacula again called Ana, from a
different mobile phone number. When Ana asked him why he
was not using his own phone, he said that the SIM card was
blocked. Ana asked if he was okay and when he would come home.
He promised Ana to come home and told her, “Don’t get mad, I
will be home. Just stay there and wait for me.”
On January 11, at 2:30pm, Ana called her husband’s new
number to inquire why he had failed to return home. It took
awhile before the mobile phone was answered. While speaking
to her husband, Ana noticed her husband’s voice sounded as if
he was suffering from pain, and she heard voices around him.
Not long into the conversation, Desacula hung up, which he
usually did not do. He only told his wife that he was fine and
promised to come home. When Ana tried calling him back, the
phone was turned off.
On January 12, Ana sought help from the Batangas chapter of
human rights group Karapatan. They sought help from local
officials and went to different military camps for days, hoping
that they could find Desacula, but failed. On January 18 Ana and
two members of Karapatan were harassed by the military when
they went to the Air Force Camp in Palico Nasugbu, Batangas.
Two personnel attached to the 730th Combat Group of Philippine
Air Force (CGPAF) labelled them supporters of communist rebels
and they were forced to leave without receiving any information.
On January 19, one officer attached to the 730th CGPAF
informed Karapatan by text message that their commanding
officer, Colonel Ruben Carandang, had signed a statement
denying that they were holding Desacula inside the camp.
A fact-finding inquiry conducted later found that residents of
Navotas, Balayan had seen Desacula on January 15, tied up and
being used by military as a shield in their operations. Additionally,
on January 16 he was seen by residents in Laurel, Batangas on
board a military truck with elements of the Philippine Air Force.
Torture, intimidation
Ustadz Habib Darupo: Driven around and tortured in van
On October 24, an Arabic teacher, Ustadz Habib Darupo
(“Sonny”), went missing after he was forcibly abducted near a
public market in the Municipality of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental
when around 4pm he was riding on his motorcycle with a
article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1