IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FOR YOLANDA H. GORDULA. LETICIA H. GORDULA, MARINA H. GORDULA AND NESTOR H. GORDULA, PETITIONERS, VS.…

One can understand the anxiety and frustration felt by the kin of
Yolanda H. Gordula in connection with her
“disappearance.” If it is of any consolation to them, it should be
mentioned that her fate is not unique. It has happened to others.

G.R. No. 62939 concerns a petition for habeas corpus. Jesus Alejandrino and Rogelio Tiglao
were arrested by military authorities on September 19, 1982. First brought to a Philippine
Constabulary camp in Malolos, Bulacan,
they were later transferred to the 172nd PC Company in San
Fernando, Pampanga, where
they were seen by their relatives. On September
20, 1982, this is what happened as stated in the affidavit of Pampanga Assistant Provincial Fiscal Gaudencio
H. Balingit:

“That on September 20, 1982, Patrolman Santiago Rodriguez,
assigned with Pampanga CC, San Fernando, Pampanga, appeared in the office of the undersigned together with certain
JESUS A LEJANDRINO y Manahan and
ROGELIO TIGLAO y Dizon of San Agustin, Arayat, Pampanga and Bulac, Sta Maria, Bulacan, respectively;

“That said Patrolman Rodriguez together with the above-named
persons were bringing with them Affidavit manifesting that they (Alejandrino and Tiglao) were
brought to the PC Headquarters for questioning in connection with their alleged
involvement with subversive elements and that they were released from the
custody of the said PC command on the said date (Sept 20, 1982) having found
out that there was no truth in the alleged accusation;

“That the undersigned after examining Messrs Alejandrino and Tiglao of the
veracity of what they alleged in their affidavit and having sworn to before the
undersigned the truthfulness of the
same as well as the genuiness of their signatures,
said affidavit was duly subscribed by the undersigned;

“That after the
subscription of the affi­davit, Patrolman Rodriguez left the office leaving
behind Jesus Alejandrino and Rogelio Tiglao and after conducting some inquiries to them, they too left the office;

“That I am executing
this affidavit to prove the above-mentioned facts.”

Alejandrino and Tiglao
never returned to their respective places of abode. In a petition for habeas
corpus filed by Mrs. Luz Alejandrino and Mrs.
Carmelita Tiglao, they aver that:

“Jesus and Rogelio would not simply dis­appear unless they are
still held incommunicado, either at 172nd PC Company or at Camp Olivas, both at San Fernando, Pampanga,
or a safehouse known only to respondents, raising the
appre­hension that they are being tortured; or worse, they had been summarily
executed or ‘salvaged’ by their military custodians, in violation of their
constitutional rights.”

In the return to the writ, it is said that:

“Respondents have neither information nor evidence that men
from their commands had, without authority, kidnapped Alejandrino
and Tiglao after their release from custody.”

The petition remains pending; Jesus and Rogelio are still
missing.

G.R. No. 64500 is another petition for habeas corpus. The
petition states that Joseph Goyenechea was arrested
on May 26, 1983, in Oroquieta City
by a PC Lt. Ochate and three other persons. Since
then Joseph has not been seen nor heard from. The petitioners ask that the body
of Joseph be produced. In their return, the respondents deny the arrest and
detention of Joseph for which reason it is said that there is no record in the Oroquieta City INP Station of his appre­hension. The case
is still pending.

Amnesty International in the report of its mission to the Philippines
in November, 1981, mentions cases of “disappearance” which include
the following:

“Jose Alto, a former construction worker, ‘disappeared’ on 27 November 1980 after being
abducted on his way home from the Don
Bosco School
where he was working. As he approached his house in San
Jose Street, Barrio Magsaysay,
Tondo, Metro Manila, two men accosted him, forced him
into a parked car and drove away. The abduction was witnessed by his sister, Erlinda Alto Aristorenas, who
lives next door. She said a long-haired man wearing sunglasses, shorts and
slippers had stayed in the car and pointed out her brother to the two outside;
they had military-style haircuts and wore polo shirts, she said.

“On 1 December 1980
the houses of the brother and sister were searched by a group of military men
in civilian clothes. Nothing was taken away. The mother, Priscilla Alto, who
lives in Jose Alto’s house, was asked to sign a statement to the effect that
nothing had been taken, which she did.

“Jose Alto’s family have been unable
to trace him since his abduction. Between 5 and 10 December 1980 his mother
visited police stations, the head­quarters of the Philippine Constabulary, Camp
Crame (where she made contact with officials of the
Military Intelligence and Security Group (MISG) and the Cri­minal Investigation
Service (CIS)) and Camp Bagong Diwa
(the Bicutan Rehabilitation Centre) in search of her
son. The authorities whom she approached denied all knowledge of his
whereabouts.

“On 18 March 1981
a neighbor informed her that he had seen Jose Alto that day accompanied by two
men in civilian clothes sitting in a stationary brown Volkswagen. He had
approached and greeted Jose Alto, whereupon the car had been hurriedly driven
off.

“On 31 March 1981
Priscilla Alto delivered a letter to the Ministry of National Defense
requesting assistance in trying to locate her son. She also visited the Office
of Detainee Affairs (ODA) of the Ministry of National Defense, where she
reported the sighting of the brown Volkswagen. Officials of the ODA suggested
she go to the License Division of the Land Transportation Division. There she
was told that the owner of the car could not be identified on the basis of the
incomplete number plate noted by the neighbor.”

The instant case is a petition for habeas corpus filed by Leticia
Marina and Nestor all surnamed Gordula. They ask,
among other things, that the respondents be ordered to produce the body of
their sister Yolanda. The petition makes the following allegation:

“2.
01. YOLANDA H. GORDULA was arrested without warrant or PCO on or about March 30, 1983, some­where in Caloocan City,
by elements of the Metrocom Intelligence Service
Group [MISG] under the command of respondent Abadilla.

“2.
02. Upon learning of their sister’s arrest, petitioners exerted efforts
to locate her. Among other steps, they visited the Constabulary Security Group
[CSG], the PC-INP Stockade, PC 12, MISG, M-2, Special Operations Group [SOG],
and the Metrocom Investigation Unit [MIU]. At each of
these detention units petitioners were officially told that their sister
YOLANDA H. GORDULA was not detained in it.

“2.
03. Petitioners also made inquiries with the Ministry of National
Defense, the Office for Detainee Affairs and the Civilian Relations Division.
These offices neither denied nor confirmed YOLANDA’s
arrest nor revealed her place of detention.

“2.
04. On April 19, 1983,
petitioner Leticia H. Gordula went to M-2
[Intelligence Unit], Camp Crame, Quezon City. There she was allowed
to see M-2’s log book. On page 41 of said log book was written:

#1831                        18-13-15/83                 MISG   SCR

Petitioner Leticia was told that the above
numbers refer to her sister YOLANDA. She was further told that YOLANDA was had been brought to MISG sometime in the
evening of April 18, 1983, and that YOLANDA was now detained at MISG.

“2. 05. Petitioner Leticia then went to MISG and
requested that she be allowed to visit her sister YOLANDA. However, petitioner
Leticia was told by a secretary employed at MISG that YOLANDA was not listed among
MISG records and in the MISG log book.

“2.
06. Under the circumstances, YOLANDA’s
disappearance for 20 days raises the apprehension that she is being tortured by
respondents at an undisclosed place or safehouse to
obtain statements in violation of her constitutional rights.”

This Court issued a writ of
habeas corpus and required the res­pondents to file a return to the
petition. In their return the respond­ents ask for the dismissal of the
petition on the basis of the following disclaimer:

“1. The person
subject of the writ, Yolanda H. Gordula, is not in
the custody of the military. She has not been arrested nor detained
particularly by the elements of the Metrocom
Intelligence Service Group (MISG) headed by respondent Col. Rolando Abadilla, contrary to petitioners’ assertion. Proof of this
is a Certification to that effect, dated April 26, 1983, executed under oath by
Majors Sotero E. Soriano
and Jaime P. Valencia, Jr., of the Cons­tabulary Judge Advocate and of the Metrocom Staff Judge Advocate, respectively, a true xerox copy of which is hereto attached as Annex
“1” and made an integral part hereof;

“2.
Petitioners’ averment respecting the entry in the M-2’s (Intelligence Unit’s)
log book which reads “#1831 18-13-15/83 MISG SCR” does not refer to
the supposed arrest and detention of Yolanda H. Gordula.
The same pertains to the letter-communication of petitioners dated April 11, 1983, requesting the
Honorable Minister of National Defense to locate the whereabouts of aforenamed subject person. Said letter which was received
on April 12, 1983 was
endorsed on April 15, 1983,
by the Office for Detainee Affairs, Ministry of National Defense (MND) to the
Commander, Command for the Administration of Detainee, Camp Aguinaldo
(CADOC), who, on the same day, April
15, 1983, forwarded the same to the Office of Metrocom
Adjutant (OMA). The latter then referred the matter to the Metrocom
Intelligence Unit (M-2), which, in turn, transmitted said letter to the Metrocom Intelligence Service Group (MISG) on April 18, 1983 at 1315 hours or 1:15 p. m. It was the transmittal of aforesaid
letter and indorsements which was reflected in the
M-2 Communication Journal or log book. Thus, it will be noted that as reflected
in the M-2 log book, said letter and indorsement were
sent out by M-2 to the MISG on ‘181315’ – which refers to the date and time
(April 18 1315 hours); the entry ‘MISG’ refers to the unit where the same was
forwarded; and ‘SCR’ are the initials of the MISG personnel, Susan C. Rivera,
who received the same. True xerox copies of aforesaid
letter as well as the indorsements of MND to CADOC CADOC to OMA, and the communication journals or log books
from OMA to M-2, and M-2 to MISG, and the MISG Communication Journal, are
hereto attached as Annexes “2”, “3”, “4”,
“5”, “6” and “7”, respectively, and made integral
parts hereof. Clearly, said log book referred to by petitioners pertains to
communications received and not to persons detained;”

The traverse and the reply thereto have not elicited any solid
fact except the circumstance that Yolanda was with Dr. Jose Escandor
in the evening of March 30, 1983.
Dr. Escandor said to be an NPA “Kumander” was shot dead by a Metrocom
reaction strike force in Quezon
City on April
1, 1983. And the question remains: where is Yolanda?

Considering that the respondents have persistently denied having
Yolanda H. Gordula in their custody and absent
convincing proof to rebut their denial, the Court is constrained to dismiss the
petition.

The writer has received a letter from Mrs. Lolita Gordula who lives in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, U.S.A.
Mrs. Gordula, who is Yolanda’s mother, asks that the
case be decided.

This is the response to the request. Mrs. Gordula,
I commiserate with you but this is the best that can be done under the
circumstances.

WHEREFORE, the petition is dismissed without prejudice to
the filing of another as may be warranted by new factual circumstances. No
costs.

SO ORDERED.

Fernando, C.J., Teehankee, Makasiar, Aquino, Concepcion, Jr., Guerrero, Melencio-Herrera,
Plana, Escolin, Relova, and Gutierrez,
Jr., JJ., concur.

De Castro, J., on sick leave.