BAGUIO CITY—An official of the Presidential Communications Office slammed the leadership of the Baguio City Police Office and the Tuba Municipal Police Station for their alleged inaction when the matter of their missing kin was brought to their attention.
PCO Assistant Secretary Ana Marie Banaag said that BCPO officials didn’t bother to act on the report that her 19-year-old kin went missing since Oct. 14, 2016 and didn’t even bother to inquire from the parents of her missing kin the circumstances on how he went missing.
Banaag’s 19-year-old kin, who is a hotel and restaurant management graduate, was reportedly last seen in the company of Epler Locloc, an alleged drug suspect, whose lifeless body was later found dumped in Lamtang, Puiguis, La Trinidad, Benguet with two gunshot wounds on his chest and strangulation marks on his neck.
Locloc is married to a native of Kadaclan, Barlig, Mountain Province which happens to be the place of origin of Banaag’s missing kin.
“We are not claiming that my missing kin is clean. We fully support the Duterte administration’s aggressive anti-drug campaign but what we are demanding from our police is sensitivity in extending assistance to those individuals seeking assistance to the unforced disappearances that happened since the implementation of the campaign,” Banaag said.
The Palace official said BCPO officials were obviously hesitant in providing her with whatever information when the issue on her missing relative was brought to their attention, thus, tribal elders from Barlig and Natonin, Mountain Province have consulted the fortune tellers just to be able to locate the remains of her relative.
She added that they want to have the remains of of their missing kin be given the appropriate wake and burial because the fortune tellers informed them that the body of their young relative was allegedly dumped by his killers somewhere in the ridges of Tuba, Benguet.
She also said she only wanted the BCPO to be honest about what happened to her missing kin and for them to assist them in locating his whereabouts.
Banaag explained that her relatives are now afraid of the police because of the trauma created by the sudden disappearance of their young kin.
She warned responsible police officials that her family will not take what happened to them sitting down because their missing kin has become a victim of unforced disappearances and could probably become one of those victims of extra-judicial killings being allegedly perpetrated by law enforcers themselves who want to please higher authorities at the expense of innocent lives that are lost primarily because of suspicion that they are involved in the trade and use of illegal drugs.
Banaag challenged the local police force to be sensitive about their actions relative to those involved in illegal drugs, citing the need for them to value the importance of life of the people.