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Families of desaparecidos pin their hopes on Duterte

July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 Ellen

In search of Jonas Burgos. From the docu, The terror of the unhead voice

Former President Benigno Aquino III disappointed them. They are now pinning their hopes on what seemed years ago as the most unlikely person to be on their side: President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances or AFAD is requesting for a dialogue with the new president on the issue of forced disappearances.

Forced disappearance is an aberration because it defies the natural cycle of life which begins with birth and ends with death. Vanishing from the face of the earth is not normal.

But that’s what happened to many individuals in this world and in the Philippines the well-known names among them are peasant organizer Jonas Burgos, and UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno.

The list is long, over a thousand names. Other names reported in media include Father Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist priest who served landless peasants and displaced settlers and the six workers of Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines namely Joseph Belar, Jovencio Lagare, Romualdo Orcullo, Diosdado Oliver, Artemio Ayala Jr. and Arnold Dangkiasan. Others just disappeared without being noticed by media.

We have a law, the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act of 2012 ( R.A 10353 ), signed by Aquino (at least he signed that legislation) which defines Enforced or involuntary disappearance as “ the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such person outside the protection of the law.”

The penalty for anybody found to have caused a person to disappear is life imprisonment.

Searching for Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno. Photo from Bulatlat.

Yet the Philippines has not signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance which could give the law stronger clout.

“The UN Convention For the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is a concrete legal measure which can be a powerful tool to help strengthen governments’ capacities to eradicate disappearances, punish the perpetrators and provide truth, justice, redress, reparation and historical memory to victims and their families,” Mary Aileen D. Bacalso, AFAD secretary general, said.

In their letter to the new president, AFAD said, “You have been vocal and consistent with your assertion that you are not part of the elite, and that you are one with the poor. We are glad to hear this and we believe that helping the poor is our point of unity. This is because out of the 1,774 cases of enforced disappearance in the country, a vast majority either come from very poor families, or were engaged in issues that aimed to uplift the lives of the poor. Some of these issues include the empowerment of farmers, self-determination of indigenous peoples, welfare of students, welfare of workers, and many other social issues that go beyond petty crimes. Perhaps the only sin these desaparecidos committed was to challenge the political forces that dominate their respective fields.”

Although Duterte was not involved in the issue of desaparecidos, a 2007 report by the Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions implied his approval of extra-judicial killings by the Davao Death Squad, a vigilantes group.

AFAD said many of these desaparecidos have been missing for years and even decades. They urged Duterte to fully and strictly implement RA10353 and sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

“Today, as you prepare to settle into your new role, we hope you would keep in mind the plight of Jonas, Sherlyn, Karen, Father Rudy, and the hundreds of other desaparecidos who had the same vision for the country as you – a better life for poor Filipinos,” AFAD said.

AFAD is a federation composed of 14 organizations in 10 countries across Asia including two organizations based in the Philippines – Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and Free Jonas Burgos Movement (FJBM).

They work together in the search for desaparecidos (victims of state-perpetrated abductions) and the elimination of enforced disappearance which includes the struggle to find the truth, demand justice, reparation, reconstruction of historical memory, and institutionalizing guarantees of non-recurrence.

For those in the Philippines, their dream is a country without desaparecidos.

Edith Burgos to Aquino: ‘End this suffering of not knowing the truth’

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

Edith Burgos: today’s Mater Dolorosa

Yesterday, while many joined the mother of OFW Mary Jane Veloso in prayers , another mother continues the agonizing search for her son.

Edith Burgos, mother of missing farmer/activist Jonas Burgos, together with relatives of persons who have disappeared, went to the Aquino house in Times St., Quezon city to deliver a letter to President Aquino on the on the 8th anniversary of the abduction of Jonas Burgos.

They were blocked by about 50 policemen.

The letter that Edith Burgos was carrying was an appeal to Aquino “to end this suffering of the family of not knowing the truth about what happened to Jonas.”

On April 28, 2007, past noon, Jonas Burgos was at Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City waiting for friends. Before his friends came three military agents, one was a woman, approached him and forcibly brought him out to a waiting vehicle. Jonas was never seen after that.

Life’s normal cycle starts with birth and ends with death. To just disappear violates life’s natural cycle.

The disappearance of Jonas and many other Filipinos is an assault to humanity and an outrage especially in a democratic country like the Philippines.

In her letter Edith gave the President an update of Jonas’s case and appealed for him to order the military to return Jonas to them “at whatever state he is in.”

Here’s Mrs. Burgos’ letter:

“I come with open hands offering prayers of peace for the Country, our beloved Philippines.

“As you know, my son, Jonas is still missing. Today he will have been gone for 8 years. The case of Jonas, which the family has pursued very deliberately and carefully using peaceful means through our existing legal and government systems, has been marked by setbacks and victories.
By God’s grace we have won our legal battle. You have already been informed that our Supreme Court has affirmed the findings of the Court of Appeals to wit, (March 7, 2013):
1. That the case of Jonas’ abduction is a CASE OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE;
2. That the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine Army (AFP-PA) is ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE ABDUCTION;
3. That among many John Does, Major Harry Baliaga Jr., of the Philippine Army is RESPONSIBLE for the abduction of Jonas.

“As a result of these conclusions we have filed a criminal case against Harry Baliaga and the case is being heard at the Quezon City RTC Branch 216.
“We have won the battle and yet we are losing the war… Jonas has not been returned to his family and nobody has been held responsible for this noncompliance of the Supreme Court order (February 2, 2014). Even the National Bureau of Investigation whom Your Excellency has ordered to investigate and to file the necessary cases as expeditiously as they can as warranted from the investigation, has not done anything after more than a year after your order was received.
“The family has not left any stone unturned … taking legal steps, pursuing all available avenues both private and government. However, we very strongly believe that you, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, can shorten the long drawn painful process of the search.
“It is in this view, that we prayerfully plead that Your Excellency, order your subordinates, the AFP-PA to follow the SC order and return Jonas to the family, at whatever state he is in.
“As a mother, I personally appeal to you to end this suffering of the family of not knowing the truth about what happened to Jonas. Surely, you who have held your own mother dear and revered, would listen to this poor mother who is looking for her son.
And, finally, we all would like a world without Disappearances, allow me to take this opportunity to appeal to you to sign the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, People from being Disappeared and thus move towards that goal. This would be a noteworthy legacy you can leave not only with the Philippines but with the world. “

Two letters

April 28, 2014April 28, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

There are two letters seeking to two powerful persons who will be making their historic meeting today.

One is from the longest-held political prisoner in the country Juanito Itaas, suspect in the killing of Col. James Rowe, to visiting U.S. President Barack Obama.

The other one is from Edith Burgos, mother of Jonas Burgos, who has been missing for seven years, to President Aquino.

Rowe, a member of the elite Green Beret in the Vietnam, was the chief of the Army Division of the Joint RP-US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) when he was ambushed and killed on April 21, 1989 in Quezon while he was on his way to his office. His driver, Joaquin Vinuya, survived the ambush.

The New People’s Army (NPA) took responsibility for Rowe’s murder claiming that the bemedalled Vietnam War veteran was a counterinsurgency expert who supposedly devised a plan to infiltrate the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Itaas and Donato Continente were arrested in connection with the killing. Both denied the allegation accusing authorities of torturing them. Both were convicted for murder in the RegionalTrial Court.

The Supreme Court later affirmed the Itaas conviction but Continente’s charge was modified to accomplice. The latter was released in 2008.

Itaas is serving his sentence of life imprisonment. Human rights organizations have lobbied for the parole or pardon of Itaas but the U.S. government has opposed it.

In his letter to Obama, Itaas said, “Indeed, I sympathize to the family and loved ones of
Col. James Rowe, to the American people and others who were offended, violated and deeply hurt by the transgressions and inappropriate actions. Like them I suffer the same agony of being separated from my loved ones. I have suffered more than enough.”

He said his three children – Jarel, 18, Abbie, 11, and John John, 9 – “have never experienced what a normal and happy family life is all about.”

“Being a good and responsible father to your two lovely daughters, here I am, a father also who desires to provide, inspire and support my children with the help of my wife; and by doing so I can be an instrument to have a strong family despite a life-threatening illness that affects my health. This is now my only goal and motivation in life. By God’s grace, your valuable help and crucial intervention will help me succeed in this humble aspiration.”

Edith Burgos, on the other hand, reminded Aquino that today is the seventh anniversary of the abduction of Jonas by members of the military.

“We recall how a few days before you were sworn in as President of the Republic of the Philippines, we were so full of hope. We, my children and I, thought that it would be just a matter of time before we would find Jonas. Our hope was anchored on your promise to do what you could ‘on the basis of evidence’ when I, accompanied by my son, personally pleaded for your help. This was almost four years ago, May, 2010,” recalled Burgos.

Burgos updated Aquino of the case especially the identification by the Commission of Human Rights of Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr. as the principal abductor of Jonas on March 15, 2011.

The CHR findings were upheld by the SC in July 5, 2011, directing the military to produce Jonas.

Burgos highlighted the following inactions in the quest for justice for her son:

• In spite of the unfulfilled SC order to produce Jonas, no one has been penalized or found accountable;
• In spite of the overwhelming evidence that the military is accountable for Jonas’ disappearance, you have not acted on the case as you promised;
• In spite of your Order to the DOJ-NBI, there has been no ‘dedicated and exhaustive investigation’ on the case.
• Meanwhile, those we believe were responsible for giving the orders to abduct Jonas, were promoted and even appointed to crucial positions which could enhance and encourage the climate of impunity, now prevalent in our country.

“It has been four years that you have been Commander-in-Chief, yet we do not know the truth about Jonas. Mr. President, is there hope that the truth will finally be revealed while you are still in the position to make this happen?,” Burgos asked.

As the two leaders tackle the issue of regional security and economy, may they find time to attend to the appeals of Itaas and Burgos, matters family and human rights- the bedrock ideals that bind nations and humanity.