Republic of the PhilippinesHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TWELFTH CONGRESSSecond Regular Session

HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 877__________________________________________________________________________________

Introduced by Reps. SATUR C. OCAMPO, CRISPIN B. BELTRAN, LIZA L. MAZA,CARLOS M. PADILLA and HARLIN C. ABAYON

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RESOLUTIONDIRECTING THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL, POLITICAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS TO INITIATE AN IMMEDIATE INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, INTO THE ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE

SINCE AUGUST 22, 2002 IN SAMAR OF 18-YEAR-OLD ROSA C. GUADIANA, REPORTEDLY THE DAUGHTER OF A HIGH-RANKING OFFICER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT IN EASTERN VISAYAS, WHICH WAS MOST LIKELY PERPETRATED BY ELEMENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ARMY’S 8th INFANTRY DIVISION UNDER MAJ. GEN. ROMEO DOMINGUEZ,

AND TO DECLARE THE ACT OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE AS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY PUNISHABLE UNDER PHILIPPINE JURISDICTION AS A COMMON CRIME AND EFFECTIVELY

ENFORCEABLE AGAINST THE STATE, ITS POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENTS

WHEREAS 18-year old Rosa C. Guadiana has been declared missing by her family and human rights organizations since August 22, 2002, the possible victim of enforced disappearance under circumstances pointing to elements of the Philippine Army’s 8 th Infantry Division under the command of Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez as the most likely perpetrators;

WHEREAS on the date of the enforced disappearance of Rosa C. Guadiana, the latter was traveling from Catarman, Northern Samar to San Roque, Northern Samar aboard a passenger bus operated by the Eagle Star liner after buying medicine for her ailing aunt, a certain Ponciana Tobello;

WHEREAS a witness who was in the same bus reported seeing a man board in front of Camp Lukban, headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division in Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan, who sat beside Rosa and took the stance of subjecting her to an interrogation. She was still being grilled by the man when the witness got off the bus in Catarman town proper at about 8:00 that night;

WHEREAS the trip from Catarman to San Roque normally takes only thirty minutes by bus, but Rosa never reached her destination;

WHEREAS Rosa was last seen alive in that passenger bus on August 22, 2002 in the company of the said man who was subjecting her to questioning. She was wearing a lavender blouse and denim pants;

WHEREAS the missing girl’s aunt, Ponciana Tobello, reported the enforced disappearance to the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Catarman and made a public appeal through DYSM, a provincial radio station in Northern Samar. She also sought the intervention of human rights organizations in the province;

WHEREAS the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division has expectedly declined to share any information regarding the whereabouts of Rosa C. Guadiana;

WHEREAS there could be no other reason for the enforced disappearance of the young girl except the unlawful counter-insurgency measures of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as manifested by the fact that she is the daughter of Abdias Guadiana, a suspected high-ranking officer of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Eastern Visayas and consultant thereof in the GRP-CPP/NPA/NDF peace negotiations;

WHEREAS it is most likely that Rosa C. Guadiana is being held hostage by the Philippine Army’s 8 th

Infantry Division to force her father, Abdias Guadiana, to surrender, or else is being used as an unsuspecting pawn in military reprisals against the New People’s Army in Samar;

WHEREAS the enforced disappearance of Rosa C. Guadiana brings to twenty-one (21) the number of desaparecidos in less than two years of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration under circumstances pointing to elements and agents of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as the likely perpetrators;

WHEREAS the act of enforced disappearance of persons is a crime against humanity and constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law encompassing the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time;

WHEREAS it is necessary and urgent to establish accurate information about the fate and whereabouts of Rosa C. Guadiana who had involuntarily disappeared to safeguard her life and basic human rights at all costs and to ensure utmost respect for the constitutional and legal prohibition against secret and incommunicado detention;

WHEREAS due to the authorization, support or acquiescence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, followed by its refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of Rosa C. Guadiana, the traditional remedies of habeas corpus and bail under the Bill of Rights and the Rules of Court will surely fail in effecting her release from detention and in guaranteeing her full liberty from the hands of her captors;

WHEREAS in view of the unavailability of the traditional remedies of habeas corpus and bail under the Bill of Rights and the Rules of Court, it is inevitable and just that in order to uphold civil and political rights, Congress must now intervene to elicit all the information necessary to set free Rosa C. Guadiana and to locate her immediately;

WHEREAS it is imperative that the act of enforced disappearances of persons be declared and penalized as a criminal act effectively enforceable against the State, its political organizations and officers and employees to the end that they shall be barred from ordering or causing the arbitrary arrest, detention or abduction of persons, or from refusing to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of the detained persons;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights initiate an immediate inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the enforced disappearance since August 22, 2002 in Samar of 18-year old Rosa C. Guadiana, reportedly the daughter of a high-ranking officer of the National Democratic Front in Eastern Visayas, which was most likely perpetrated by elements of the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division under Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez;

RESOLVED FURTHER that the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division and Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez be ordered to submit an updated listing of all persons, including 18–year old Rosa C. Guadiana, who have been arrested and detained under their custody since August 2002;

RESOLVED FINALLY that the act of enforced disappearance be criminalized by declaring it as a crime against humanity punishable under Philippine jurisdiction as a common crime and effectively enforceable against the State, its political organizations and agents to the end that they shall be barred from ordering or causing the arbitrary arrest, detention or abduction of persons, or from refusing to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of the detained persons.

Adopted,

SATUR C. OCAMPO CRISPIN B. BELTRAN LIZA L. MAZABayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List

CARLOS M. PADILLA HARLIN C. ABAYON Nueva Vizcaya, LD Northern Samar, 1D