This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 4, March 4, 2006
BY BULATLAT A radio broadcaster in Baler town,
Aurora province (231 km north of Manila), was reportedly abducted at
around 6:20 p.m. March 3. The National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP) reported that Joey Estriber, 37, host of the radio program
Pag-usapan Natin (Let Us Talk About It) aired over DZJO, was taken by
unidentified men near an internet café in Baler. Witnesses said that they saw the Estriber
resist his abductors, shouting as he was being dragged to a maroon Besta van
with tinted windows and no plate number. Witnesses saw four men surround
Estriber and throw him into the van face down, after which the van moved south
toward the central school. The same van had been parked in the area
hours before the abduction, witnesses said. Estriber left
behind a pair of slippers. Two text messages sent from his cellphone were
received half an hour later, saying "Huwag kayong mag-alala, ok lang ako,"
(Don't worry, I'm all right.) and "Nagtatago ako." (I am hiding.)
However, those who received the two text messages from Estriber’s cellphone
doubt if he was the one who sent them. The NUJP also
said Estriber’s active participation in Bataris, a church-based non-government
organization in Baler, could be the reason for his abduction. In mid-February,
the Philippine Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion raided the Bataris
office. At about the same time, a military officer claimed on radio that members
of non-government organizations like Bataris are in the military's "order of
battle." Estriber was
speaker at a recent forum where four soldiers reportedly tried to force their
way in. Family members have made the rounds of radio
and police stations but they were unable to gather more information about
Estriber’s abduction. Bulatlat with reports from Gitnang Luson News Service © 2006 Bulatlat
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Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Posted 6:35 p.m. March 4, 2006