Press Conference Statement by Melissa Roxas

Jun 27th, 2009

PRESS TRANSCRIPT

I would like to thank everyone for being here this afternoon.

It has been a very difficult time for me and my family and I would like to thank everyone who has give us their love, help, and support during this time.

I was in the Philippines for an exposure program doing volunteer work in the community and also doing research for my writing project. I was in La Paz, Tarlac conducting health surveys in the community for a future medical mission.

On May 19, 2009, about 1:30 in the afternoon, I and my two companions, John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo, heard a banging on the front door and a voice asking that the door be opened. About 15 men in civilian clothes armed with high power rifles and wearing ski masks, some of them had bonnets on to cover their faces, surrounding the house. I was surprised and very scared. They forcibly opened the door and the armed men went into the house coming from the front and the back door and ordered us to drop face flat on the ground, but I kept trying to stand up and asking why are they doing this but they pushed me to the ground.

I then started to shout my name, repeating it again and again, I was punched repeatedly at my right rib cage. They tried to tape my mouth but I kept taking it off, saying my name over and over again. I saw that my two companions were already blindfolded and taped at the mouth and were being taken to a blue van. I was trying to stop the armed men from putting me into the van and they instead started to drag me bruising and wounding my arms and my legs, severely wounding my left knee cap.

I didn’t want to get in that van, I put my feet on the side of the doors but the men forced me inside. and they blindfolded and handcuffed to the back. But they could not tape my mouth because I was already retching and throwing up.

We traveled for more than an hour in the van and when we stopped they separated us and I didn’t know where they took my other two companions.

The first couple of days I was held in a jail cell with iron bars. When I was made to lie down on a wooden bed without a mattress with my head positioned near the iron bars.

They didn’t feed me during the first day and the second day they did not feed me until at night. The whole time throughout my abduction, I was blindfolded and handcuffed, except when they made me take a bath. At first they had me handcuffed in the back but later put the handcuffs in front because my hands were severely cut and bruised.

During my days in the jail cell, I heard construction activities–blowtorching, hammering and construction. I also heard gun firing like a firing range and planes taking off and landing and it was loud and I could also hear goats.

I was never left alone, there were always men watching me. I was constantly interrogated and during the interrogations they would ask me repeatedly if I knew why I was there and I WAS TOLD BY THEM that I was abducted because I was a member of the CPP NPA. I also repeatedly told them that I have rights and that I demanded for my lawyer. I told them I was just a writer and a volunteer.

They told me that even if a year passes, I would see no lawyer. That there I had no rights.

They told me repeatedly that it was because of people like me who are costing the government so much money.

They said people like me are the ones who are making it difficult for the government.

Then they threatened me and beat me.

I remember when two men entered my cell, and one of them, who they called “Tatay”, pulled my handcuffs, raising me so that I was sitting, then he punched me

then a thumb was pressed to my throat choking me…

he was saying “huh!…huh…huh.”

then he struck me again on my left jaw and I heard ringing in my ears.

They said that I was hard headed and that I better answer their questions…

They kept repeating the questions.

Before they left I heard the man say they should just shoot me.

So I could not sleep the rest of the time and I kept waiting because I knew they would come back and I prepared for the worst;

And they came back hours later

and they asked me “Are you ready to die”

and they said before they kill people they make them pee and shit from the pain before they die.

and they dragged me out of the cell.

All I could do was tell them I had rights and I wanted to see a lawyer, but he kept beating me.

At one point they banged the back of my head repeatedly on the wall behind me and I remember seeing flashes of white light. And he kept punching me. Every time I would fall the other men would hold me and force me up.

Then they held my feet and my hands down and they put two plastic bags and put it over my head and around my neck,

I started to suffocate and I could not breath anymore and I was seeing white and thinking I was going to die and then he released the hold

After that happened, there were more interrogations almost non-stop, and more threats.

During my abduction and torture I knew it was the military that had me because they kept accusing me of being CPP/ NPA and tried to make me sign some documents but I refused. I kept telling them I was a writer and that I was a health care volunteer.

I also heard people being addressed as “Sir” and answering to orders with “Yes Sir.”

One of the interrogators, RC said they merely tools of God for making rebels return to the fold and I told him that my God does not torture people. He then told me that the people who abducted and tortured me were part of the S.O.G, the Special Operations Group.

I also heard gun firing, like a firing range, and planes taking off and landing. Also a lot of construction. When I asked Rose what the construction was, she said it was construction in the camp to build more walls, make the walls higher in the camp.

Early morning on May 25th the military dropped me off at my house in Quezon City. I was still very distraught and fearful that they would come back for me. Even after I was at my house with my uncle, they called me again on the phone and I was very afraid and fearful for my safety.

The military said something bad would happen if I said anything to anyone. They especially did not want me to talk with Karapatan. I was very fearful and that is why I wanted to go home to the United States as soon as possible and seek safety and reunite with my family there.

It was very hard to talk about what happened because of the emotional and psychological effects of my abduction and torture. After it happened, I did not want to leave the house at all and it was very hard for me to go even outside of the room. I was also still very weak physically because of my wounds.

Although it is still very difficult to talk about the incident, I wanted to tell the truth about what happened to me. Because I don’t want what happened to me, to happen to anybody else ever again. I want the world to know what happened because the Philippine government and military should not get away with what they did to me, to Juanito, to John Edward. And they cannot get away with what they did to many other people. Because there are still families looking for their loved ones, and there are many more still missing.

I plan on pursuing the case for as long as it takes to seek justice for what they did to me.

I am asking the American people and the Filipino people, and all believers of truth and justice to help me, and help the victims of human rights violations to get justice.

It has to end. The killings, the enforced disappearances, the abductions, and the torture have to end.

Every day since my abduction and torture the nightmares of what happened often return to me and talking about that experience is like going back again to that dark place, but knowing that I spoke the truth about what happened keeps that deep sea of injustice, silence, and fear from drowning me… and instead I get to keep that bit of light inside.

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Press Conference Statement By Arnedo S. Valera, Esq.

Jun 27th, 2009

PRESS TRANSCRIPT

US Counsel for Melissa Roxas
Migrant Heritage Commission (Legal Resource Program)
Washington, D.C.

Let me thank all the media both in the U.S and the Philippines for this opportunity to present the very compelling case of Melissa. We hope that you will be and will remain our genuine partner in our collective pursuit for justice for Melissa and her family.

Background:

Melissa is a US citizen. She is the first known American citizen to have become a victim of abduction and torture in the Philippines under the new administration of President Barack Obama.

Melissa’s parents and extended families in the U.S. belong to the more than four million Filipino migrants/immigrants in the United States. They are immigrants who have adopted the US as their home. And just like other Filipino overseas, they contribute significantly to the economy of their host country and their country of origin.

It is very difficult indeed, to imagine that Melissa, a US citizen and a member of the immigrant family will be subjected to torture and inhuman treatment in a government headed by a woman President who always religiously profess adherence to human rights law. Obviously, what we see is an affirmation of how the Arroyo govt. play lip service to the cause and promotion of human rights in the Phil.

Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms. President Obama himself has made strides in making a stand against torture and ill treatment. He criticized interrogation practices during the Bush administration and promised to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and he wants to clean up the U.S. reputation on human rights after Bush eight years of administration policies . The new President has given the men the clear charge to restore the United States’ record on human rights. “We must adhere to our values as diligently as we protect our safety with no exceptions. We will abide by the Geneva Conventions. We will uphold our highest ideals”, Obama said.

In a quite ironic event, during the Migrant Heritage Commission People’s Ball on June 7 to celebrate the 103 years of Filipino Migration to the U.S. and the Philippine Independence Day, democratic Congressman Jim Moran of the 8th of Virginia raised howl over Melissa’s abduction and torture. He said that, “People get kidnapped and just because they’re Filipino-Americans, their country of origin feels some right to kidnap, even to abuse them. The reality is that Melissa is an American just like my daughter is an American.” “The Philippine government or military or paramilitary, whoever it was that abducted her, committed a crime, he said.

For him, there should be a direct link between military aid to a country and the way that country treats its own people and its neighbors. “If a military is going to try to act with impunity whether it be in the Philippines, Indonesia, any other nation whether in Asia, Africa or South America, they should not be receiving military assistance because military assistance is meant to be used to further American values,” Moran added.

The Phil. Government should be ashamed for characterizing Melissa’s ordeal as a “stage-managed” abduction and nothing more than a stunt perpetuated by the petitioner and her handlers to gain tremendous “media mileage” and questioning the petitioner’s truthfulness to the extent of her sanity. These unapologetic and rhetorical comments are highly irresponsible, immoral, absurd and grave insult to the intelligence of the victim and the Filipino people. These fallacies played by government as their defense(s) against Roxas are cynical attempts to displace their direct responsibility and avoid whatever form of culpability for the crimes they have committed vs. Melissa. Melissa was tortured and that is a fact. The government’s position is so absurd and highly improbable, that either their theories) of escaping liability is that: the abduction and torture of Melissa did not happen or that Melissa inflicted unto herself such as to be hanged, punched, choked and suffocated by a plastic bag all alone. Her abduction typify the abductions and enforced disappearances of innocent civilians, allegedly last seen in the hands of suspected state security forces.

The very least that the Philippine Government should have done, if there is still any moral and legal decency left on its sleeves, is to surface the abductors and torturers instead of flat and empty denials. They know what they have done to Melissa. Their act of impunity exhibits little respect for life, freedom, justice and the law of nations. They should be held accountable.

Legal Options:

Since Melissa is a US Citizen, she could file a tort action in Federal Courts for damages for the Intentional Tort of an Unlawful Kidnapping, assault. Etc. Under the Intentional Tort case, Melissa could seek punitive and compensatory damages vs. her identified assailants and if not to initiate the case and litigation against the Philippine Government. A deliberate torture was perpetrated vs. a U.S Citizen, under the color of official authority violates universally accepted norms of international human rights law, and that such a violation of international law constitutes a violation of the domestic law of the United States. There is no doubt that the assailants who tortured Melissa were acting as agents of the Philippine Government, considering that the Arroyo administration has been reported as committing systematic and gross human rights violations vs. its citizens who are expressing legitimate dissent and in the free exercise of their free speech and assembly.

The factual truth is that Melissa was tortured by a group of unidentified military personnel, who were implementing a counter insurgency operations mapped by the military with the stamped approval of President Arroyo. Instead of following the rule of law, they applied on Melissa, the rule of the jungle where his fundamental rights as a U. S Citizen was never respected.

Because the Arroyo administration violated the provisions of the International Covenant Against Torture, The Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Declaration of Human Rights, private complaints can be lodged by Melissa before the appropriate UN agencies or special bodies in charge of investigating this and even go to the extent of recommending prosecution of the guilty military personnel. If indeed there is a finding of gross pattern of human rights violations being committed by the govt. against its citizenry, the Philippine government should be expelled from its membership in the UN Human Rights committee. We can ask the Special UN Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak to investigate the Roxas case, file a complaint with the State Department against the Philippine government and that a thorough investigation to be done by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

There is a strong legal possibility that because Melissa is a U.S Citizen, extra territorial jurisdiction can be exercised by the U.S to bring the perpetrators over to the U.S for trial under the Convention against Torture and violations of U.S laws.

Yesterday, the international community historically commemorated the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims. President Obama on this occasion said: “Torture is contrary to the founding documents of our country and the fundamental values of our People.” The US must stand against torture wherever it takes place.”

To all of you who are supporting Melissa and all victims of torture and human rights violations: Let us always remember that Justice is not something that is begged for, it is something that one must aspire and fight for. And this is what we need to do for Melissa as one migrant/immigrant family.

Thank you.

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Thank You Message from Melissa Roxas

Jun 21st, 2009

Dearest Friends,

The recent birth of my niece reminds me that life is something more than just presence, it is the earth rising inside of you, the earth that has been there since the beginning, but taking a different form.

I started to think about all the other babies I had seen as a community health worker in the Philippines before my niece was born. The marking of before and after, beginnings and endings. I remember their mothers taking them in for health screenings and basic check ups. Infants who went untreated for days with a fever, the softness in their eyes gives way to a hardness, their skin was tight from dehydration, they were so tiny, their hand in mine was as little as my thumbnail. I remember how much I wanted them to get better and be alive. With so many babies, children and families that I’ve met, I realized that the disease they had was more than an epidemic of typhoid fever, cholera, or malaria, it was the disease of poverty and oppression.

When I started to work more with particular issues of human rights violations I also met different babies, babies and children who had lost their mothers and fathers to a different death. A horrible and preventable death that takes the life not only of its victim, but robs the whole family and the world of their presence, all because they advocated and fought for a better world where their children have genuine freedom, a just peace, and true democracy.

Each day I was with the community, I learned how precious a birth can be, how to appreciate life, and I slowly began to understand what they meant when they whispered me their names and told their stories. There are no deaths that are forgotten, no fathers, no mothers, no sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, or cousins that are forgotten. They live in the births of new babies each day.

When my own experience of abduction and torture ended and I was reunited with my family it was not a second birth for me, I realized that it is a continuing journey for the search for truth and justice. Repressive governments and military use torture as a form of control, to instill fear in people in debilitating ways, so they stay quiet and lose their light inside. But I realized no amount of pain or suffering or fear can stop that earth in me to keep rising. Instead it gave birth to new births. My experience has convinced me even more of the value of freedom and justice and the importance of fighting for and upholding the principles of human rights and human dignity.

Me being able to write this right now is testimony of how your collective love, support, prayers, and action is helping me and others like me through this experience. I know that your support is also part of a larger movement to create change towards a world free of poverty and oppression. Thank you to friends and family, family and friends of other desaparecidos, progressive people’s organizations, human rights groups, lawyers, civil rights advocates, church people’s organizations, concerned individuals, fellow poets and artists, and all believers in human rights and justice.

There are many more desaparecidos, more abductions, torture and extra-judicial killings going on in the Philippines and around the world. Let the new birth come where there is an end to all of the killings, abductions, and torture. Let the noise come from all directions–they are no longer whispers but shouts for justice.

Love,
Melissa Roxas

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Groups Confident of Evidence On Melissa Roxas' Abduction

Jun 18th, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
BAYAN Philippines

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the human rights group Karapatan believe that there is sufficient evidence to point out the military’s involvement in the abduction of Filipino-American activist and Bayan USA member Melissa Roxas and her two Filipino companions Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc. Roxas and company were abducted by bonnet-wearing armed men last May 19. She was surfaced on May 25 after news broke out that she had been abducted.

The Court of Appeals’ Special Division 16 under Judge Noel Tijam set a hearing today on Roxas petition for a writ of amparo and writ of habeas data. Roxas is represented in the amparo petition by human rights lawyer Rex Fernandez.

“Roxas has a detailed accounting of what happened during her detention in what we believe to be was a military camp. She also retained the handcuffs and blindfold that were used on her,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“A plain denial of the incident by the Arroyo government is not acceptable. To this day we have not heard anything from the Arroyo administration, from the Department of Defense or from the Armed Forces of the Philippines regarding their so-called investigations into the abduction. The Ermita-led Presidential Commission on Human Rights had gone on to say that the abduction was a fabrication designed to embarrass the government,” Reyes added.

Marie Enriquez, secretary general of Karapatan said that Roxas is in the United States and recovering from the trauma caused by her abduction and torture. She will be joining US-based groups in campaigning for justice on her case.

“In time, we hope Melissa can personally speak on the matter. The amparo case remains important since Melissa hopes to one day return to the Philippines. It is also important that those who abducted her are identified and eventually made accountable,” Enriquez said.

Roxas and Bayan-USA, the US-based Katarungan and the National Alliance on Filipino Concerns (Nafcon) are consulting with US lawyers on the possibility of filing a case in a US court or in treaty bodies of the United Nations.

“All means of making the perpetrators accountable are being explored right now. This is going to be a long fight. So long as Mrs. Arroyo remains in power, her government will do everything to cover up the incident and avoid any criminal liability,” Reyes said.

A protest action is set on June 26 to mark the United Nations Day Against Torture to highlight the case of Roxas and other torture victims in the Philippines. A counterpart protest in the US is also being readied. ###

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Abducted Fil-Am Activist Tortured, Files Writ of Amparo

Jun 1st, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
BAYAN Philippines

Now it can be told.

Abducted Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas, who was forcibly taken by armed men in La Paz, Tarlac last May 19 and surfaced six days later, was subjected to physical and mental torture during her captivity. She now seeks the protection of the Supreme Court for herself and her relatives here in the Philippines.

Roxas is a member of BAYAN-USA , the overseas chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. She arrived in Los Angeles, California Monday morning June 1, Philippine time, to be reunited with her family. She has not faced the media or issued any statement since her release because of the trauma left by her abduction.

Based on her petition for a Writ of Amparo and based on her sworn testimony, Roxas was held for six days blindfolded and in handcuffs in an area suspected of being a military camp in Nueva Ecija, possibly Fort Magsaysay, headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division. It is a short distance from La Paz, Tarlac where she was abducted. During her captivity, Roxas said she heard radio communications where people were addressed as “Sir”. She also heard what she believed to be was a firing range as well as the sounds of aircraft.

Respondents in the petition for a writ of Amparo include President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, AFP Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado, Philippine National Police chief P/Dir. Gen. Jesus Verzosa and Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, commanding general of the Philippine Army.

During the time of detention, Roxas was denied counsel, subjected to torture via asphyxiation using a plastic bag and was hit repeatedly by her interrogators. She was forced to admit that she was a member of the New People’s Army and was asked to return to the fold of law.

Roxas was dropped off in front of her house around 6:30am on May 25. Her captors left her with a SIM card and phone as well as the handcuffs they used on her. One of her interrogators even called her on the phone after she was dropped off.

“There is credible basis to say that Melissa was abducted by the military as part of the government’s counter-insurgency operations. The abduction and torture were clear violations of her rights. It is despicable and those involved must be made accountable,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“The Arroyo government must now address this issue. For the past few days, it has systematically attempted to cover up the incident. The Ermita-led Presidential Commission on Human Rights has called the abduction a ‘fabrication’ by Bayan and Karapatan. Defense secretary and presidential aspirant Gilbert Teodoro has not conducted any investigation in the military’s involvement,” Reyes said.

Bayan said that the matter has also been brought to the attention of the United States government through its embassy in Manila.

“We cannot just let this incident pass. We do not raise these issues simply because we want to discredit the government, as the PHRC alleges. We raise these issues because we want an end to these abductions, torture and other extra-legal activities being undertaken by state security forces,” Reyes said.

“We demand that the incident be investigated and that the PHRC withdraw its earlier statements that the incident was a fabrication,” he added. ####

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Philippine Government Trying to Cover-Up Fil-am Abduction

May 28th, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
BAYAN Philippines

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan condemned in the strongest terms the statement coming from the Philippine government and its Presidential Human Rights Commission on the circumstances of the abduction and eventually surfacing of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas and her companions Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc.

“The PHRC has shown utter incompetence once more when it says that there are no police reports regarding the abduction of the three. This is a lie,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes , Jr.

The group said that as of May 20, 2009, the La Paz police through its police chief, Police Chief Inspector Ronald R. Fernandez signed and filed a special report addressed to Tarlac Provincial Director Police S/Supt Rudy Lacadin based in Camp Makabulos. The initial police investigation was spurned by the May 19 report of the homeowner where Roxas and company were abducted and by the report of the baranggay captain of the area where the three were taken.

“We received a copy of Police C/Insp. Fernandez’ report last May 24, from a Karapatan Central Luzon official who personally talked to the La Paz police and was given the report,” Reyes said.

Tarlac provincial director S/Supt. Lacadin, eventually confirmed the incident to the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response headed by Police S/Supt. Leonardo Arias Espina. Further proof is that the PACER has contacted Karapatan to formally inquire about the abduction.

Bayan said that it was the La Paz police report, based on their initial investigation, which revealed that Roxas and company were forcibly taken by at least eight armed men, wearing bonnets and riding a van last May 19 in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Bgy. Kapanikian, La Paz, Tarlac.

“It is ridiculous that the PHRC claims that no such report of an abduction was ever filed. It’s obvious that the PHRC did not conduct its own investigation. It seems that it merely relied on word of non-governmental organizations like FIND and AFAD. That the PHRC did not conduct its own probe shows the very little regard it has for the plight of the abducted activists,” Reyes said.

“What is even more outrageous is that despite not conducting its own thorough investigation, despite existing police reports, the PHRC is now forwarding the theory that the three abducted activists were held by the New People’s Army. What is the PHRC’s basis for saying this? What shred of evidence to they have?” the Bayan leader asked.

Bayan believes that as in previous cases of disappearances, the Arroyo government is quick to absolve the military from any involvement and shifts the blame to other entities like the NPA. This theory lacks any credibility even with the international community, the group said.

“There are credible indications that the three were abducted by elements of the military and were taken possibly to a military camp before their eventual release. There is an ongoing investigation as to the circumstances of the abduction. Right now, the organizations and the families of the victims are focused on looking after the recovery and well-being of the three,” Reyes said.

“The PHRC, by prejudging the incident as a mere propaganda tool by Bayan and Karapatan, shows that it has really no intention of uncovering the truth behind the abduction of Roxas and company. The Philippine government is more interested in saving face. From their statements, it is clear that the Arroyo government is gearing for another cover up, first by trying to downplay the incident and next, by blaming it on the NPA,” he added.

Bayan believes that in time, the truth will come out. “And when it does, no amount of official cover up can suppress it,” Reyes said. ###

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Search Continues for Companions of Abducted Fil-Am Activist

May 26th, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
BAYAN Philippines

While happy that Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas was surfaced yesterday morning, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that the search for her companions Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc continues.

“It is regrettable that military and the police are either clueless or in a state of denial over the abductions of Roxas, Carabeo and Handoc. We are demanding the immediate surfacing of Carabeo and Handoc and an end to the pattern of enforced disappearances happening under the Arroyo regime. We call on Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself to address the issue of the abduction of the three activists,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“The military in Tarlac claims that no such abduction took place. Are they not aware of a formal report filed by the La Paz police? We are again seeing the start of a wave of denial from the military. It is very unlikely that the military does not know the incident. They may be trying to cover up something,” Reyes said.

The three were abducted last May 19 in La Paz, Tarlac by at least eight armed men wearing bonnets and on board two motorcycles and a Besta van. The account came from the report of the La Paz police after receiving a complaint from witnesses in the abduction.

Roxas was surfaced after six days of being disappeared. The circumstances regarding her release are still unknown.

“We are holding the Arroyo government responsible for the abduction or Roxas and the continued disappearnce of Carabeo and Handoc. The manner of abduction has all the trademarks of a mliitary operation,” Reyes said.
Bayan’s chapter in the US has undertaken a campaign to release Roxas, Carabeo and Handoc.

“The abductors of Carabeo and Handoc must respect their rights. No harm must come to them. Too many have been abucted under this regime, some tortured, others never seen again. And since no one has been punished, there is now impunity,” Reyes said.

“What is needed now is to exert more pressure on the Arroyo regime to do everythin to surface the two abducted activists. We also hope that the United States government would stop supporting the Arroyo regime now that an American citizen has been a victim of abduction by suspected state security forces,” he added. ###

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Bayan Calls On Arroyo Government to Surface Fil-Am Activist Melissa Roxas and Companions

May 24th, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
BAYAN Philippines

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan is calling on the Arroyo government, the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to immediately surface Melissa Roxas, an American citizen of Filipino descent, and a member of BAYAN-USA and the cultural group Habi Arts based in Los Angeles, California.

Roxas was abducted last May 19 at around 1:30 pm in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Bgy. Kapanikian, La Paz, Tarlac. She was with two other volunteers, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc.

Based on reports filed by the human rights group Karapatan and the La Paz police, Roxas and her companions were taken by at least 8 fully-armed, bonnet-clad men on board two motorcycles and a Besta van without any plate numbers.

Since the abduction, there has been no word on the whereabouts and condition of Roxas and her companions.

Roxas is the first case of a Fil-Am activist to be abducted by suspected state security forces.

“It is indeed urgent that Melissa and her companions be surfaced. No harm must come to them. Their rights must be respected. We are outraged that these abductions continue despite repeated condemnation here and abroad,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

Bayan said that the human rights group Karapatan will be spearheading the search for Roxas. “The burden of surfacing Melissa, as in similar cases of abductions, now lies with the Arroyo administration. We also call on the international community to exert pressure on the Arroyo government for it to act swiftly to surface Melissa,” Reyes added. ###

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