LOS ANGELES—Filipino American Melissa C. Roxas accused the military of abduction and torture during her visit to the Philippines two months ago. Roxas, 31, a graduate of the University of California San Diego, told a press conference here how “about 15 men in civilian clothes armed with high power rifles and wearing ski masks or bonnets” abducted her in La Paz town in Tarlac province on May 19 and later tortured her.  She returned to her Tarlac home on May 26 and surfaced in the U.S. two weeks ago to tell her harrowing story.

Two companions, John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo, were also reportedly taken in on the same day on board two motorcycles and a Besta van without any plate numbers.  The two remain missing. Roxas is a member of the Left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan-USA and the LA-based cultural group Habi Arts.  She was visiting the Philippines for an “exposure program” on for  Bayan-USA.

“I applied for an exposure program in the Philippines being the home country of my parents with Bayan-USA… for the purpose of gathering materials for my writing project being also a member of Habi Arts,” Roxas said through an affidavit she executed on May 29 in Quezon City before returning home to the US.

In her statement, Roxas recounted in details how she was, among other physical punishments, “pushed to the ground… punched repeatedly at my right rib cage… blindfolded and handcuffed to the back, gagged, almost suffocated… struck with a fist while on sitting position and a thumb was pressed strongly to my throat.”  She added that her “non-stop interrogation” centered on her being forced to admit that she was a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

“I was having a streaming thought that I was going to die there and then,” Roxas said.  As a result of her ordeal, she had been having nightmares every day, she said in the press conference. Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, denied Roxas was tortured by military agents.  “Nothing of that sort happened. We already asked all units in the area and we found that they have nothing to do with that,” Brawner told the Inquirer newspaper in Manila.

Arnedo Valera, Roxas’ lawyer in the United States, said his client would seek damages in a US federal court against the Philippine government.  He added that his group would file a complaint before the US Department of State and the United Nations. Lawyer Rex Fernandez, who is also representing Roxas, said his client is willing to return to Manila to pursue her case.

Named respondents to the alleged abduction and torture are President Arroyo; Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro; Gen. Victor Ibrado, Armed Forces chief of staff; Director General Jesus Versoza, National Police chief; Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, Army commander; Chief Supt. Leon Nilo de la Cruz, Central Luzon police commander; Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, 7th Infantry Kaugnay Division commander; Senior Supt. Rudy Lacadin, Tarlac police commander and several others identified only as Dex, RC and Rose, who were believed to be soldiers.

State Solicitor Bernardo Villar, denied the involvement of the respondents in the alleged abduction of Roxas and her companions, and immediately sought the dismissal of the petition.  He told Manila media that the abduction was “stage-managed” in order to tarnish the image of the administration before the international community.

“In fact, quite the opposite of proving actual abduction at the hands of military personnel, the petition and the appended documents point toward the possibility of a ‘stage-managed’ event to achieve spectacular and theatrical results that would put in a bad light the government itself, but at the same time achieve great mileage, or otherwise give petitioner and her group undeserved ‘political capital.’ These are evidence from the facts mentioned in the petition and the circumstances herself,” Villar told the Inquirer.


The U.S. State Department reported in 2006 that Philippine security forces have been responsible for serious human rights abuses despite the efforts of civilian authorities to control them.  The report found that although the government generally respected human rights, some security forces elements—particularly the Philippine National Police—practiced extrajudicial killings, vigilantism, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention in their battle against criminals, leftists, and terrorists.