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TWO FARMERS from the town of Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental yesterday filed a petition with the Court of Appeals in Cebu for the issuance of a Writ of Amparo against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines asking them to produce the bodies of their family members.
Rosalia Yanoc and Carmen Arante, through counsels Rex Fernandez and Noemi Truya, said the military took their kin for alleged involvement with communist rebels. They said, however, that the two men that the military took were ?mere farmers.?
Yanoc said that her son, Reynold, 18, was taken by the 61st Infantry Battalion (IB) on Dec. 7, 2007.
?They told me that they would just accompany my son in their operations, and then they would bring him back,? she said.
Yanoc said that she waited until the next day for her son?s return. When he did not, she visited the 61st IB?s detachment in Bayawan town, where she was able to talk to her son through radio, but never saw him in person.
She said Reynold told her that he was mauled.
Yanoc said she saw her son being escorted by soldiers in baranagy Talalac, Sta. Catalina on Jan. 25. She demanded that her son be released, but soldiers told her that they were ?just following orders.?
Yanoc said she has not seen her son since.
Arante, for her part, said seven soldiers took her husband Flaviano, 53, forcibly without stating reasons. The soldiers, she said, wanted to ?borrow? her husband for two days, after which he would be returned.
Arante said her daughter, Anie, was able to visit Flaviano on Jan. 27, during which the father was able to whisper to his daughter that he was mauled.
Arante said that was the last she heard of Flaviano.
