But more than the physical torture, Bacalso suffered most when he was subjected to psychological torture, said Dimol. “Shots were fired just beside his ears,” Dimol said. “He was also warned against being stubborn and was told that his father was in an adjacent room.”

Dimol said Bacalso’s father already finds it difficult to walk due to illnesses.

Traumatized, Bacalso has been placed in a sanctuary. He can neither go home nor go to school for fear of his captors.

Surveillance

Karapatan-Cebu has reason to believe that the perpetrators are intelligence agents of the Central Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) based in Camp Lapu-Lapu, Lahug, Cebu City.

Before Sept. 8, Bacalso knew he was under surveillance. On Aug. 23, he noticed two men tailing him the entire day. Days after, on Sept. 3 at around 8:00 p.m., as Bacalso was standing in front of the campus, the men approached and told him not to waste the time of their boss. One of the men told him in the vernacular: “I know where the children of communists hold their meetings. You are all children of communists, right?”

The men tried to drag Bacalso toward a gray van parked near Luzon Lumber just across the campus. Fortunately, Bacalso managed to free himself and ran back inside the campus. He reported the incident to Karapatan-Cebu the following day.

According to Karapatan, Bacalso was hit on his left arm while being interrogated. (Photo courtesy of Karapatan-Central Visayas / bulatlat.com)

During his captivity, Bacalso said he heard the voices of the two men who attempted to abduct him on Sept. 3.

Oplan Bantay Laya

Dimol deems that the abduction is politically-motivated. He said Bacalso was not an activist but actively campaigned for Kabataan party list during the elections.

Dimol said President Aquino should fulfill his promise of treading the daang matwid or straight path. “We hope to get justice, that the perpetrators be held liable. We also demand the junking of Oplan Bantay Laya,” Dimol said.

Dennis Abbarientos, secretary general of Karapan-Central Visayas, said that the abduction is part of the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).

“We hold President Benigno S. Aquino III accountable. The incident happened after his administration extended the OBL,” Barrientos told Bulatlat.

Central Visayas is listed as a priority area of the OBL. Barrientos said that while the AFP already declared Cebu and Bohol as insurgency-free, two battalions, the 78th Infantry Battalion and the 43rd IB of the Philippine Army remain in Cebu.

In a statement, Selda said the characteristic pattern of abduction and torture has been the trademark pattern of the AFP under the OBL. According to the group, there were 2,425 victims of arbitrary arrests, 1,092 of them were tortured under the pretext of counterinsurgency.

“As long as counterinsurgency programs like Oplan Bantay Laya are being implemented, extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and torture by state agents are bound to continue. We condemn the continuing spate of human rights violations. We call on Pres. Aquino to immediately withdraw the Oplan Bantay Laya, to punish the perpetrators and to render justice for all victims of human rights violations,” Fr. Dionito Cabillas, Selda national secretary general, said. (Bulatlat.com)

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