ADVERTISEMENT
Asked why the Aquino government does not want to ratify the law, human rights lawyer Edre Olalia said that probably one of the reasons why the government is hesitant to ratify the convention is that once it does, it would be incumbent upon it to allow visits of special rapporteurs in the country.
"For us families of the disappeared, unless and until Palparan is arrested and faces the court, President Aquino becomes part of the cover up to protect the Butcher. He thus, becomes part of the continuing crime of enforced disappearance and should be liable under the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act."
By BULATLAT STAFF
Until now, there is no existing law in the Philippines criminalizing enforced disappearances despite the fact that hundreds -- from the time of Marcos dictatorship until the present administration -- have been abducted and remain missing.
Five years ago today, Jonas Joseph Burgos was abducted by suspected state security agents at a busy mall in Quezon City. From that day until this very moment, his family and friends continue searching for him despite all the difficulties.
Families of the "desap" mount a photo exhibit, light candles for their missing loved ones
(Photos by Anne Marxze D. Umil)
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO Bulatlat.com MANILA -- The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police failed to present three of its witnesses during the Court of Appeals hearing on September 7, 2011 on Jonas Burgos's enforced...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
In her speech after the hearing, Mrs. Erlinda Cadapan called on President Benigno S. Aquino III, the commander in chief of the AFP, to pay attention to the cases of enforced disappearances. “These are serious crimes committed by the armed forces.”
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“The Aquino administration has been contented in being a passive spectator, leaving the victims, relatives, human rights defenders and their lawyers on their own.” – National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“It’s good news but it [the decision] took so long. Unfortunately, the decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court have not resulted in the surfacing of the disappeared.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of missing UP student Karen Empeño
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA -- With the filing of charges against state security forces in relation to the enforced disappearances of University of the Philippines (UP) students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan and the update on the case of another...
By SHARMAINE ANNE B. VILLANUEVA and RONALYN V. OLEA
“We will not stop seeking for justice. We will not stop until the perpetrators are punished. I cannot settle with the fact that I can only embrace my daughter in my dreams,” Erlinda Cadapan, mother of Sherlyn, said.
Sidebar: Rights groups, Justice Secretary push for bill to criminalize enforced disappearance
Watch video of the press conference held after the filing here.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“After almost four years of waiting, we finally see a glimmer of hope…While we seem to have won this battle, the real measure of success is the recovery of my son. We shall continue the fight until Jonas is returned to us, alive and well and justice is served.” – Edita Burgos
In these times of inhumanity, the thin line between being a journalist and an activist is blurred even more. I know in my heart that I owe no one an apology.
Search for Missing Dad, Other Disappeared
Dukot (Desaparecidos), a film about the worsening human-rights situation in the Philippines, will have its premiere showing on November 17, 2009, at the UP Film Institute, University of the Philippines-Diliman.
Mrs. Edita Burgos, mother of abducted peasant organizer Jonas Burgos, left for the United Kingdom last week to attend a forum organized by Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines-United Kingdom (CHRP-UK), Amnesty International-UK and the British trade union group Unison, which aims to highlight the problem of enforced disappearances in the Philippines.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“Today, as the whole nation remembers the lives of the departed, we commemorate the missing. We light a candle not for their souls to rest in peace but to shed light on their way home. We offer flowers not because we believe they are no longer with us but because they are deeply missed,” Mary Guy “Ghay” Portajada, daughter of a missing labor leader, said.
Ni RICHARD R. GAPPI Saang puntod magtitirik ng kandila ang mga mahal sa buhay, kamag-anak at kaibigan ng mga hinablot ng dilim at piniringan ang paningin upang wala silang makita at makapa kung saan man sila huling dadalhin? Wala silang pangalan, walang lapida. At...
Agustito “Tito” Ladera, 38, and Renato Deliguer, 21, were last seen by their relatives tending their farms before they went missing. Witnesses point to soldiers of the 36th Infantry Battalion who were seen arresting two farmers.
Kin Remember Disappeared Loved Ones, Slam OBL Extension
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.