Noong Marso 9, 2010, bandang 8:30 ng gabi, pilit na tinangay ng mga di kilalang mga tao na pawang mga armado sina Daryl Fortuna at Jinky Garcia at isinakay sa isang kotse. Sila ay dinukot habang balot sa kadiliman ang buong komunidad ng Sitio Matalvis, Barangay Inhobol, Masinloc, Zambales dahil sa brownout.
Ayon sa salaysay ng isang nakakita, nakausap nito ang isa sa mga sundalo na nagro-ronda at kinumpirma na ang dalawang dinukot ay kasama ng mga taong naka uniporme at may palatandaan o simbolo ng “ARMY.”
Nang mangyari ang sapilitang pagwala, ang dalawa ay pawang aktibo sa pag-organisa nang mga komunidad sa hilagang parte ng Zambales dahil sa usaping pagmimina at ang mga nakakasirang epekto nito. Habang naninirahan sa nasabing lugar, sila ay nangangalap ng mga impormasyon tungkol sa epekto ng mina habang tinutulungang maiangat ang kamalayan ng mga mamamayan upang mahusay na mapaninindigan at malalabanan ang mapamuksang dulot nito.
Taon-taon ay ginugunita sa buong daigdig ang pagpapahirap at pagsasakripisyo ni Kristo Hesus.
Bagamat hindi mapapantayan, ni matatapatan ninuman ang sakripisyo ng Dakilang Manunubos sa krus, hindi maiwasang ihambing ang pagdurusang naranasan at patuloy na dinaranas ng mga pamilya at kaanak ng mga iwinala. Sila na ang tanging hangad ay ang pagbabago ng sistema at isang makatarungang lipunan, gaya ni kristo sila ay hinatulan at itinuring na kaaway nang may mga kapangyarihan. Ang pagkakaiba lamang, sila ay iwinala at karamiha’y hindi pa natatagpuan ang mga katawan.
Katulad ni Maria na ina ng Panginoong Hesus, ang mga pamilya ng mga biktima ng sapilitang pagwala ay dumadanas nang napakahabang paghihirap ng kalooban at isipan. Ngayong araw ng Kwaresma ay muling nanariwa ang pangulila ng mga magulang, kapatid, asawa, anak at kaibigan; pagdurusang mistulang mga hagupit sa damdamin at kalooban ng nawalan.
The passage on third and final reading by the House of Representatives of House Bill No. 98, the proposed “Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012” yesterday inevitably leads to the light at the end of the tunnel. Having been in the forefront of the 17-year uphill battle for the enactment of this law, we believe that final victory will be ours before the year ends.
The House passed on third reading similar measures in the 13th and 14th Congresses. The Senate had made up for its failure to pass them in the last two Congresses by approving its own current version of the bill on final reading on 26 July 2011.
The imminent enactment of an anti-enforced or involuntary law is indeed long overdue even as it is seasonable as forced disappearances remain unabated and committed with impunity.
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) in cooperation with the Committee on Human Rights of the House of Representatives are hosting the “KNOW ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE,” a mini film expo on the global phenomenon of enforced or involuntary disappearance.
The film showing will be held on 22 March 2012 in Rooms 9 and 10, RVM Building, at the House of Representatives from 1:00 -5:00 PM.
Slated for screening are two films; “Dukot”, a movie of Joel Lamangan and Boni Ilagan which was nearly banned by MTRCB in 2008 for depicting the grim reality of the plight of the disappeared persons in the Philippines in recent years.
“Finally we are getting somewhere in our campaign to make the phenomenon of enforced disappearance a societal concern,” sighs Joey Faustino, Secretary General of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND).
Last Monday, 05 March 2012, the House of Representatives approved on second reading House Bill No. 98, “An Act Defining and Penalizing Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance.”
Former Minority House Leader and Honorary Chairperson of FIND, Cong. Edcel C. Lagman is the principal author of HB No. 98 which defines enforced or involuntary disappearance as the “arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty 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 place such person outside the protection of the law”.
The commission of the global phenomenon of enforced or involuntary disappearance remains unabated in the Philippines. Since involuntary disappearance is not yet considered a crime under Philippine laws, the 15 cases filed in court by some families with the assistance of FIND are lodged as kidnapping, murder or serious illegal detention or a combination of the last two offenses. The case of the PICOP Six in Trento, Agusan del Sur was favorably resolved on July 18, 2008 after eight long years. FIND has also supported the filing of petitions for writ of habeas corpus as well as petitions for writ of amparo by families of recent victims. The anti-disappearance bills pending before the Philippine Congress seek to define and penalize the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance.
Recent developments in the search for the three missing Islamic scholars took a positive turn. Najir Gumuntul Ahung, 38; Rasdie Bisita Kasaran, 21; and Yusup Cadlus Mohammad, 21, all residents of Al-Barka, Basilan disappeared on January 4, 2012. All three were bound for Khartoum, Sudan and were scheduled to leave Manila via Qatar Airways at 12:10 a.m. of that day.
The Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) on 14 February 2012, in what it considered as a breakthrough, was able to confirm from Air Philippines’ baggage section that the checked-in bags of Najir Ahung and Yusup Mohammad were never claimed.
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We support the immediate enactment of the proposed Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2011 and the signing and ratification by the Philippine Government of the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED).
