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LOS ANGELES – A Filipino American woman who claims that members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) kidnapped her and two friends last May, will file various legal lawsuits against the Philippine government, according to her lawyer, Atty. Arnedo Valera.
Roxas recounts abduction
Roxas, a member of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan USChapter (BAYAN-USA), spoke to the media for the first time since her alleged abduction by the AFP.During a lengthy and emotional press conference, the 31-year-old fought tears as she read from her sworn affidavit and described the events that led to her capture and six-day ordeal by her torturers.
The UC San Diego alum said that she was in the Philippines to research on a writing project and help assist in a medical mission in La Paz, Tarlac,
After coming back from a recent survey trip on May 19, she claims that 15 armed military men wearing "ski masks" and holding "high powered rifles" barged through the door of the house where she was staying and abducted her and two companions - Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Jandoc.
"I kept shouting my name and was being punched repeatedly," said Roxas during the press conference held at the Echo Park Methodist Church and broadcast online simultaneously to the Philippines last Saturday. "They kept trying to tape my mouth but I kept taking it off and continued to say my name over and over again."
According to reports in the Philippines, neighbors recall hearing the commotion and told local authorities about what they witnessed.
Roxas said that she was held for six days in what she believes was a military base. She recalls hearing construction activities, gunfire as though from a firing range and planes taking off and landing.
She said she was blindfolded and handcuffed to the back. She said that interrogators "punched", choked and accused of her of being a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
She denied their accusations and repeatedly told her interrogators that she was a US citizen. She demanded a lawyer.
"They told me even if a year passes, I would never see a lawyer, that in there I had no rights," she said. "They told me that it was people like me that is costing the government so much money."
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