INQUIRER Global Nation

MANILA, Philippines—The United States embassy in Manila is now looking into the allegations of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas that she was abducted and tortured by the Philippine military while she was on a medical mission in La Paz, Tarlac in June.

US embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson said in a text message that the embassy recently asked the Philippine government for information on Roxas’s allegations, as she is an American citizen.

“We are aware of Ms. Roxas allegations. We take seriously the safety and security of American citizens and are seeking further information about this case,” Thompson said.

Asked what particular government office was looking into the embassy request, Thompson said there was an already an ongoing legal case so she could not comment any further.

Roxas, an American citizen of Filipino descent, earlier said in a press conference in Los Angeles, California that she and two companions—John Edward Jandoc and Juanito Carabeo—were forcibly taken by 15 armed men believed to be soldiers on May 19 in La Paz, Tarlac. She said they were blindfolded and handcuffed and brought to what she believed was Fort Magsaysay, a military camp in Nueva Ecija.

According to Roxas, she was beaten up several times despite her plea to talk to her lawyer. She said her torturers accused her of being a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army.

Reports said that in 2005, Roxas took part in an international fact-finding mission investigating human rights violations throughout the Philippines under the Arroyo administration.

Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman, denied the AFP involvement, saying an internal inquiry conducted showed that the 7th Infantry Division in Tarlac where the torture allegedly happened had nothing to do with it.

On May 26, Roxas resurfaced to tell her story and sought court protection by filing a petition for the issuance of the writ of amparo at the Supreme Court.

The petition for a writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity. It covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof.

The high tribunal granted Roxas’s plea and ordered the Court of Appeals to conduct the proceedings on the case. Roxas returned to the US in the first week of June.