Desaparecidos

"The Burgos case is not on the track to justice. First, the brains of the abduction of Jonas Burgos was exonerated and Gen. Eduardo Año was  even confirmed as Chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Now, while Maj. Harry Baliaga has a standing warrant of arrest against him, he can still bail himself out of prison for only P40,000," said Lorena P. Santos, secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice.

"Niloloko niyo kami! Pwedeng kasuhan ang kamay ng krimen pero ang utak ay hindi?" remarked Lorena P. Santos, daughter of a desaparecido and secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice (Desaparecidos) at the picket held today at the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Santos referred to the September 3, 2013 resolution by the DOJ to drop military officials, led by Brig. Gen. Eduardo Año, from the list of respondents to the criminal charges of arbitrary detention, murder and obstruction of justice on the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos. 

On the International Day of the Disappeared

"Until when will we keep looking for the disappeared?" Lorena "Aya" Santos, a daughter of a desaparecido and secretary general of Families of the Desaparecidos for Justice, asked. "For years, we keep commemorating the International Day of the Disappeared to remember all the desaparecidos in the world and to call to stop enforced disappearances. Regimes had passed, but enforced disappearance still exist while our missing loved ones have yet to be found," Santos said. 

"Sobra nang pahirap ang pitong taong paghahanap! Sobra na talaga!" (Seven years of searching is too much of an agony. It's just too much!) Concepcion Empeño and Linda Cadapan, mothers of missing Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan decried as the disappearance of their daughter reached its 7th year. 
 
It was on this day, seven years ago that Sherlyn and Karen were taken by several armed men in combat boots in Hagonoy, Bulacan. The two women and a farmer Manuel Merino was dragged out of the houses they were staying in, hands tied and blindfolded. Sherlyn, who was pregnant at that time,  was kicked at the stomach.

"The Court of Appeals (CA) ruling on the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos confirms our position since Day One -- that the military is behind the act as shown by evidences and testimonies. Sadly it took six long years for the government to acknowledge this," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said on the CA decision on the petition for the Writ of Amparo that points to the responsibility of Maj. Harry Baliaga and the accountability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

“The testimony of Adoracion ‘Nanay Adoring’ Paulino, Sherlyn Cadapan’s mother-in-law, clearly corroborates other witnesses’ statements that Sherlyn and Karen Empeño were abducted by the military.  The disappearance of the two UP students happened almost seven years ago. The warrant of arrest issued against Gen. Palparan is more than a year now and the anti-disappearance law had just been enacted. Yet, the Aquino government remains a failure in rendering justice, with the continued non-arrest of Palparan,” Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said.