Five Philippine Army officers and personnel implicated in the abduction of Jonas Joseph Burgos on Monday showed up before police investigators at Camp Crame and denied any involvement in the incident that transpired exactly a month ago.

Director Geary Barias, chief of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), said in a statement that Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano, Lt. Col. Noel Clement, Lt. Col. Edison Caga, Cpl. Castro Bugalon and Private First Class Jose Villena issued their statements to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group–National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR).

Barias said CIDG-NCR chief Senior Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel reported that the five denied they have anything to do with the abduction of Burgos on April 28 from a restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

While Bugalon and Villena admitted they were responsible for the impounding of an Asian utility vehicle in June 2006 that bore the license plates (TAB-194) found on the car used to abduct Burgos, "they averred that they never used the vehicle and just turned it over to the 56th Infantry Battalion headquarters" in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Colonel said that the two claimed apprehending Mauro Mudlong's AUV on June 24 last year in Norzagaray "for allegeldy transporting illegally-cut forest products."

"They also claimed having no knowledge of how the license plates disappeared," Coronel said, pointing out that the two "presumed that (the AUV) had been there (at the 56th IB headquarters) all the while."

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/44128/Army-men...Jonas-abduction

If they played dirty, they should be men enough to stand up and face the consequences of their act.

THe news says even the ISAFP leadership is thumbing its nose at the CHR which is investigating this incident.

If these army suspects has nothing to do or a hand in that kidnapping case, they should voluntartily avail themselves to a "Polygraph" (Lie detector) test. If they refuse to cooperate by availing the constitutional rights of suspects, then it should'nt be hard to pin them down by digging deeper for circumstancial links to the case in question.

If I were the investigator who took down their sworn statements, I would press a question on whether they are willing to undergo polygraph test. If the answer is no, then there lies the strong suspicion to start building up the circumstancial link.

Denial is always expected because not one of them obviously want to be rained with salt.

Imagine the scenario if that happens in a communist country like China. I'm sure they'll cover up the case. No habeas corpus. It reached the point that they took the matter to CHR and respondents appeared before their sala. The more exculpating for Philippine democracy vis-a-vis Sison's communist totalitarianism when they get indicted and convicted. Actually it's almost exculapting for our democratic system. (Sison will rape all our kids and shoot anybody who subpeonas him in any kind of CHR if there'll be one)