Military denies activist’s abduction
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VIGAN CITY — At a dialog held Friday between the family of missing activist James Balao and members of the 50th Infantry Brigade (IB), 1st Lieutenant Romel M. Tambio, civic military operations officer of the 50th IB strongly denied the accusations that the 50th IB is in any way associated with the enforced disappearance of James Balao.
HOPEFUL. The Balao-Oclupan clan together with CPA and CHRA went to Vigan, Ilocos Sur for a dialog with the 50th Infantry Batallion hoping that James Balao will be surfaced. To their dismay, Lt. Rommel Tambio denied they were keeping James. Photo by Noel Godinez/NORDIS
Balao, a founding member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), has been missing since September 17. He left his residence in Fairview, Baguio City at around 7:00 AM on the said date and since then, has not been in contact with his friends and family; nor can they contact him.
In a series of activities to resurface Balao, members of the CPA, along with his family, went to the Ilocos Sur capitol in Vigan City to air their grievances to the 50th IB themselves, whom the family and the CPA have good reason to believe to be responsible for Balao’s disappearance.
At the session, members of the Balao family had their pieces to say but their message rings true: resurface James.
Windel Bolingit, CPA secretary general, addressing Tambio said, “You claim to be serving the people, and a force of democracy. If you really are that kind of military unit, then you will resurface James Balao, and let the court of law decide on the government’s violations.”
After the forum, Tambio and his men escorted a small party comprising Bolingit, CPA chairperson Beverly Longid, and a few members of the Balao family around the 50th IB Headquarters in San Juan, Ilocos Sur to ensure the party that they were not holding James in their custody.
True enough, the party did not find any evidence of James’ detention. However, the time it took since the dialog’s end until the arrival of the group at the military camp would have been sufficient to move out any detainees from the camp, if any.
“We continue to hope and pray for Balao safety,” said Tony Balao, current president of the Balao-Oclupan Clan Association. “All we ask is that James be surfaced. If there are charges against him, then let due process be served,” he added. # Myko Chiong
