Eden Marcellana, aged 31 years old and the mother of two children, and
Eddie Gumanoy, aged 37 years old, were abducted 21st April 2003 by unidentified armed men in the evening in Barangay Maibon, Naujan, Mindoro Oriental. travelling in a van with nine fellow members of a Karapatan human rights "quick-reaction" fact-finding team to investigate reports of a pattern of political killings and abductions in the province when about twenty armed men most wearing "bonnet" face masks, wearing combat fatigue jackets and ammunition pouches, blocked the road with their jeepney.
At least five of the masked assailants took over the van drove it to a nearby village followed by the jeepney carrying the other gunmen. The assailants then man-handled, struck and verbally abused the human rights workers demanding that Eden Marcellana identify herself. Eden Marcellana, Eddie Gumanoy and three other members of the team were then taken away on the jeepney.
All the possessions of the fact-finding team, including documents and photographs collected on their mission, were taken. The following day the bodies of Eden and Eddie were found in a bamboo grove near a highway. The three other abductees had been released in separate isolated locations.
Post-mortem examinations by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights found that they were "hog-tied" (hands and feet tied together) and bore signs of torture inflicted before they were killed. Eddie Gumanoy suffered gunshot wounds to his face and chest and Eden Marcellana had two stab marks in the face and upper back. Other sources reported that Eden Marcellana’s body was severely beaten, particularly on the face and neck.
Eden Marcellana was the Secretary General of Karapatan-Southern Tagalog region and Eddie Gumanoy was the Chairperson of Kasama-TK, a local peasants organization. In the months prior to the abduction Eden Marcellana had publicly expressed concern about the at least 27 reported political killings, abductions and harassment of leftists and alleged "communist sympathizers" in Mindoro Oriental allegedly carried out by a "vigilante" group linked to members of the 204th Infantry Brigade, which was under the command of Colonel Jovito Palparan. A criminal complaint was filed against Colonel Palparan in relation to one case, and it was reported that he had subsequently labelled Eden Marcellana as a "terrorist". In the days before their abduction, the fact-finding team reported that they were under military surveillance and when outside the 204th Brigade headquarters had reportedly been told to enter and were photographed against their will.
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