“The trauma from his ordeal has rendered him unable to perform his usual day-to-day activities as he remains apprehensive about potential retaliation from his torturers,” the petition read.
By JONAS ALPASAN
With reports from John Kieth Palijado and Isabela Rivera
Trigger warning: This report delves into physical, verbal, and psychological torture
MANILA – Hawak na namin ang buhay n’yo. (We have your life in our hands.)
An interrogator threatened environmental activist Francisco “Eco” Dangla III when he was abducted. These words continue to hound him, and since then he has been living in constant fear, worrying about the safety of his family, this despite being surfaced by suspected state forces in March this year.
In a 16-page petition submitted to the Supreme Court on August 30, International Day of the Disappeared, Dangla sought legal protection by demanding the disclosure and destruction of information gathered during his torture and abduction.
A writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.
Respondents include Lieutenant General Roy M. Galido, Brigadier General Gulliver L. Señires, Police General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, Police Brigadier General Lou F. Evangelista, and Police Colonel Jeff E. Fanged. These officials, Dangla said, are accountable for his abduction and torture during his captivity.
Read: 2 Pangasinan-based environmental defenders abducted
“The trauma from his ordeal has rendered him unable to perform his usual day-to-day activities as he remains apprehensive about potential retaliation from his torturers,” the petition read.
Dangla was assisted by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).
Abduction, continuing trauma
On March 24, 2024, Dangla and fellow environmental activist Joxelle Tiong were abducted after a community consultation in Polo village, San Carlos City, Pangasinan. Both were onboard a tricycle on the way to Dangla’s home when they were stopped by armed men.
“Do you want me to shoot you?” both Dangla and Tiong were threatened as the former tried to use his phone to call for help. The two armed men later forced them inside an SUV.
While in the hands of their abductors, both Dangla and Tiong were subjected to interrogation. Their belongings were also seized, and were forced to divulge passwords “so his interrogators could gain access to his mobile phones and messaging applications.”
Here, Dangla said in his petition before the Supreme Court that their abductors were “unsatisfied” when they said that they were affiliated with environmental groups. The abductors insisted that there is a “deeper answer to it.”
“Every time, Petitioner would give an unsatisfactory answer or failed to respond altogether, his interrogators would punch or kick him, slap him across the face, or threaten to kill him,” the petition said.
Psychological torture
Aside from the physical torture, Dangla told the Supreme Court that he was also subjected to psychological torture, including being told that three of his family members were already dead.
In the petition, Dangla narrated how they were deprived of sleep and threatened to be electrocuted or burned alive with old tires “or in a manner that his body could not be recovered.”
“The interrogation and torture went on for the night until Petitioner finally heard birds chirping, signaling the arrival of daytime,” the petition said, adding that the exhaustion and desperate thought to end the torture, compelled Dangla “to say what he thought his interrogators wanted to hear.”
Following his forced “confession,” Dangla was then permitted to sleep, eat, and bathe under the close supervision of his abductors. Upon his release, he was told that they are expecting his cooperation, saying that “your colleagues looked concerned and that they trust you. We will allow you to return but you will work for us,” and that “this is your second chance to live.”
On March 27, about three days after they were abducted, Dangla was dropped off blindfolded in a deserted road in Tubao, La Union.
Dangla, in his petition before the Supreme Court, said there is no doubt that state forces involved in his abduction and torture “all acted upon orders of their superiors within the chain of command.”
“The military and police operatives who perpetrated the abduction and torture of Petitioner remain unidentified as of this time. However, based on the totality of circumstances, it is undeniable that these individuals are members of the Philippine Army (PA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP),” the petition said.
No action
In the petition filed before the Supreme Court, Dangla assailed how his family and paralegals who were looking for him while they were abducted were not assisted by the police. The latter initially refused to document the incident in a police blotter, citing lack of evidence and witnesses.
This despite provisions of Republic Act No. 10353 or the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law where any government agency who received a report on a disappeared person must “immediately issue a certification in writing to the inquiring person or entity on the presence or absence and/or information on the whereabouts of such disappeared person, stating, among others, in clear and unequivocal manner the date and time of inquiry, details of the inquiry and the response to the inquiry.”
In Dangla’s case, it was only after March 25, 2024 that the police allowed a blotter to be filed, after the police were eventually compelled to visit where the abduction allegedly happened. Here, a piece of cloth belonging to Dangla was found.
Read: Still no justice for victims of enforced disappearances despite anti-disappearance law
“With the evidence attached in support of this Petition, Petitioner can demonstrate not only a prima facie case of enforced disappearance but also provide substantial evidence that his refusal to cooperate with his captors renders him further vulnerable to surveillance, harassment and other more grievous violations, placing his life, liberty, and security under constant threat,” the petition read.
Dangla’s activism
Prior to his abduction, Dangla was engaged in human rights and environmental advocacy. He served as provincial coordinator of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Pangasinan and later as regional coordinator of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers in Central Luzon.
In 2021, he helped form the Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment, a grassroots network of green advocates in the province. He also served as a member of the secretariat of the Pangasinan Empowered Action on the Care for the Environment Network.
In his petition before the Supreme Court, Dangla said that he actively campaigned against the planned incineration plants, offshore mining, coal-fired and nuclear power plants, among other environmental problems.
In 2020, a Facebook Page branded him a recruiter of the New People’s Army (NPA). In the same year, he received death threats sent to his mobile phone. His name and photo were later posted within a state university, warning people of him. “Because of his work, Petitioner has been subjected to the following incidents of red-tagging and death threats,” the petition said.
Family of disappeared, human rights workers support Dangla
Dangla was joined by different environmental and human rights organizations such as Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, Environmental Defenders Congress, Desaparecidos (Families of the Disappeared), and Karapatan during the filing of the petition before the Supreme Court.
There are 15 victims of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. administration. According to Cristina Guevarra, secretary general of Desaparacidos, this is a grave human rights violation due to the continuing injustice.
“I have devoted myself to this cause since 2006 up to now. At the expense of being at home to look after my children and grandchildren, I have taken the parliament of the streets to seek justice. I hope that the Supreme Court and all government agencies will heed our voice and put a stop to the demonic acts of abducting our loved ones.” said Erlinda Cadapan, mother of disappeared student activist Sherlyn Cadapan.
Timeline: Search for Justice for Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño
Read: Surface our brothers – kin of missing activists
Meanwhile, Nica Ortiz also decried her brother Norman Ortiz’s abduction in Nueva Ecija in September 2023. “Their disappearance is not just the loss of two people, but the loss of voices that defend the oppressed. Norman Ortiz and Lee Sudario are heroes for the farmers, but above all, they are people—children, siblings, and friends—with dreams and aspirations for the nation.”
Dangla, for his part, acknowledged the struggles of families of the disappeared during the filing, stressing that “our situation is very difficult. The justice system in our current society is extremely challenging.”
“But we are still here despite the odds. We will continue to fight because this is not just about us or our families, it is the future of our country and future generations that are at stake,” he said. (RTS, DAA, RVO)
