Last Seen:

March 3, 2006

Aurora
Joey Estriber, an NGO worker and a radio anchor, was reportedly abducted by armed men in Baler, Aurora, on Friday night, March 3, 2006, at Burgos St., Corner San Luis, Baler, Aurora.  According to witnesses, Estriber cried out for help as he was thrown into a heavily tinted maroon Besta van without license plates by four armed men at around 6:20 p.m. nears Baler's electric cooperative office, and the van sped towards the general direction of Central School (south direction). The incident was immediately reported to the local police to take action.  Before the incident at around 5 p.m. A van was spotted parked in front of Aurelco a few meters away from the site, and some suspicious persons were also seen standing just beside the Roman Catholic Church.  Troops from the army's 48th Infantry Battalion were suspected of having taken Estriber after the victim stopped four soldiers from attending a Bataris-sponsored forum and campaign planning on charter change on February 28.   The 48th IB commander denied his men had a role in the abduction.  On the same day (March 3, 2006) at around 6:54 p.m. Two messages from Estriber's cell phone were received half an hour after he was kidnapped saying, "Huwag kayong mag-alala, ok lang ako (Don't worry, I'm alright)" and "Nagtatago ako (I'm in hiding)." The recipient of the messages, however, doubted they came from Estriber.  Recent incidents suggest the Bataris formation center may have been making enemies. A Bataris building was burned down in December, and two of its staff members of non-government organizations like Bataris were in the military's "Order of Battle."  Joey Estriber as secretary general of the Multi-Sectoral Action Group of Aurora led the group's campaign against large-scale mining and illegal mining. He was also the anchor of the radio program Pag-uusapan Natin on DZJO in Baler.  From March 21 to 23, 2006, a peace mission was conducted by Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance along with Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), Balay Rehabilitation Center, and Socio-Pastoral Institute (SPI) in the case of Joey Estriber.

details about their circumstances.