Missing Fil-Am activist surfaces but...

MANILA, Philippines - Less than 24 hours after she was reported abducted along with two companions in Manila, a Filipino American activist surfaced in Manila, a militant group said Monday.

But the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) US chapter said the companions of Melissa Roxas, 32, remain missing since they were "abducted" last May 19.

"We are happy to hear about Melissa's surfacing, but we are still concerned about the whereabouts of her two companions, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc, who were abducted along with Melissa on May 19th and are still missing to this day," Bayan USA chairwoman Bernadette Ellorin said on the Bayan Web site (www.bayan.ph).

"We fully intend to pursue the demand for the surfacing of Carabeo and Handoc, as well as justice for Melissa. This abduction should never have taken place," she added.

Bayan claimed at least eight armed men abducted Roxas, Carabeo, and Handoc at gunpoint in La Paz, Tarlac. The three were members of a medical mission team in the area.

It said it and Bayan USA "exerted strong efforts" calling for their immediate surfacing, including releasing an online petition addressed to US elected officials.

Ellorin claimed it was international pressure that forced the immediate surfacing of Roxas.

"Because more than five days had passed since their abduction, we believe Melissa's surfacing is a direct result of rapid community response and international pressure exerted from the Philippines and the United States first and foremost," she said.

She added BAYAN USA in Southern California has also been working closely with Roxas' family in Los Angeles in their campaign efforts to surface Roxas and her companions.

Roxas, a founding member of the cultural organization Habi-Arts in Los Angeles and founding Southern California Representative for BAYAN USA, went to the Philippines in 2007 to pursue human rights advocacy full-time.

This was amid an acute human rights crisis in the Philippines that includes reports of rampant extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrest, torture, and summary executions, Bayan said.

In 2005, Roxas participated in an international fact-finding mission investigating human rights violations throughout the Philippines under the Arroyo administration.

Meanwhile, Bayan USA member organizations across the United States will launch actions denouncing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) this Wednesday.

"Included in these actions will be the call for justice for Melissa Roxas and for the immediate surfacing of Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc. BAYAN USA firmly believes the continuing, unabated human rights violations committed by the Philippine military and death squads are generously funded by US military aid to the Arroyo government. BAYAN USA also ultimately holds the Arroyo government accountable for the pattern of killings and abductions against civilians critical of the regime since 2001," Bayan said.

"As we continue to campaign for justice for Melissa, Juanito, and John Edward, we are consciously raising awareness of the role of US tax dollars in funding these abductions and other human rights violations.
There are hundreds more victims of politically-motivated abductions in the Philippines that are still missing to this day," Ellorin added. - GMANews.TV
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