The military has placed two army officers under investigation in connection with the disappearance of a left-wing activist, an army spokesman said Saturday.
Lieutenant Colonel Noel Clement, former commander of the 56th Infantry Battalion, was summoned for questioning Friday over the abduction two weeks earlier of Jonas Burgos, a member of a farmers' group allied with the National Peasant Movement, the country's largest left-wing peasant federation, said army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nestor Torres.
Torres said he was not informed about the results of the questioning by the military's provost marshal.
Lieutenant Colonel Melquiades Feliciano, who replaced Clement as part of a routine reshuffle in January, was suspended Friday "to give him and the investigators a free hand to conduct the investigation," Torres said.
Burgos has not been seen since April 28, when gunmen dragged him from a restaurant inside a suburban mall to a waiting car whose license plate was traced to another vehicle that was impounded last year at the 56th Infantry Battalion camp in northern Bulacan province.
The vehicle was seized by authorities in Bulacan in June last year because it was allegedly used in illegal logging, police said.
Burgos, 36, had conducted an organic farming seminar for members of his group earlier in the day and was scheduled to meet family members later but never showed up and did not answer calls to his mobile phone.
Burgos is the son of the late Jose "Joe" Burgos Jr, a prominent crusader for press freedom under ex-dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Witnesses said they saw Burgos struggling as he was being dragged away and telling the gunmen, "Sir, I am just an activist," according to Ruth Cervantes of the human rights group Karapatan.
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
DISASTER: The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded a magnitude 5.7 and tremors reached as far as Kolkata, India, more than 300km away from the epicenter A powerful earthquake struck Bangladesh yesterday outside the crowded capital, Dhaka, killing at least five people and injuring about a hundred, the government said. The magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 10:38am near Narsingdi, Bangladesh, about 33km from Dhaka, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake sparked fear and chaos with many in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people at home on their day off. AFP reporters in Dhaka said they saw people weeping in the streets while others appeared shocked. Bangladesh Interim Leader Muhammad Yunus expressed his “deep shock and sorrow over the news of casualties in various districts.” At least five people,
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
RSS