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Primer on Desaparecidos-Philippines

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Primer on Desaparecidos-Philippines PRIMER ON DESAPARECIDOS-PHILIPPINES PB 1 Primer on Desaparecidos-Philippines Published in the Philippines in 2012 by Desaparecidos-Philippines 2/f Erythrina Bldg., 1 Maaralin St., Central District, Diliman Quezon City 1100, Philippines Editor: Josephine Dongail Layout and Cover Design: Jennifer Padilla Photos: File photos from Desaparecidos-Philippines, Karapatan, Bulatlat, Arkibong Bayan and Pinoy Weekly Printed and bound in the Philippines by IBON Press, 114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City 1103, Philippines Published with the assistance of Stichting voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking K.O.O.K. Our thanks go to ACY and AA. The reproduction and distribution of information contained in this publication are allowed as long as the source is cited. 2 3 Contents 5 Forewords 12 Introduction 18 Profile of Desaparecidos 22 Organizing for and with the families of the disappeared 24 Desaparecidos-Philippines, what it stands for 28 Documentation and thematic mass actions 29 References 33 Annex: List of the missing (1971-2011) 2 3 Forewords Message of Solidarity to Desaparecidos-Philippines1 Fidel V. Agcaoili Desaparecidos-Philippines is dear to my heart. You have revived the true spirit and commitment of an organization fighting to secure justice for the victims of abductions and enforced disappearances, and have reached out to the victims’ families to help them find answers on the fate of their missing loved ones. In November 1985, I helped form the organization FIND or Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances – from the conceptualization of its name and objectives, developing the list of victims of enforced disappearances during the Marcos regime, contacting and meeting with their families, building their organization, and carrying out the work as its first appointed Executive Director. We gathered pictures of the victims as part of the documentation. We actively participated in the movement against the Marcos dictatorship towards obtaining justice for the victims. We filed complaints with the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations. We also solicited help and support for the families of the disappeared. But in March 1987, I was elected Chairperson of Partido ng Bayan. I was obliged to pass on my tasks in Find to another, though I remained as its nominal Executive Director upon the request of the victims’ families. At that time, Find was already a functioning organization with its own office and more than fifty active family members, lobbying the new government of 1 Abbreviated version of his solidarity message to Desaparecidos-Philippines in its Third General Assembly on November 2, 2012. 5 Mrs. Corazon Aquino for information from the military about their missing loved ones, seeking recognition for them as victims of human rights violations, and demanding the prosecution of the perpetrators of enforced disappearances. But Find turned its back on its principles. To be able to receive funding from the Aquino government, Find agreed to relinquish the demand for justice in prosecuting the perpetrators of enforced disappearances so as not to upset the military and hold the reactionary state accountable for war crimes. It abandoned the task of organizing the victims’ families thereby rendering FIND an ineffective organization in fighting for justice. It was content to have a roster of victims that it peddled in international forums as its credentials. Find received regular funding from the yearly budget of the reactionary state that ensured the protection of military perpetrators from prosecution. Find was transformed into an ordinary NGO (non-governmental organization) serving the interests of its officers in terms of salaries and other perks. I salute Desaparecidos-Philippines. Its formation provides the victims’ families once more with a venue to come together, organize and fight for justice for their missing loved ones. Desaparecidos-Philippines reaffirms the original mandate of Find and can claim itself as the latter’s continuity organization. It can even call itself Find-Justice to distinguish itself from the mercenary Find. Since its formation, Desaparecidos-Philippines has stood for justice for the victims of abductions and enforced disappearances. While organizing and caring for the families of the disappeared, Desaparecidos-Philippines demands and aims for the prosecution of military perpetrators and holds the reactionary state accountable for war crimes. Along with progressive human rights organizations, Desaparecidos-Philippines has performed a crucial role in exposing and opposing state terrorism and the servility of Philippine regimes acting as accomplices of US imperialism in brutally suppressing the Filipino people’s just demand for national and social liberation. Desaparecidos-Philippines has sought to align itself with patriotic forces that seek to unite the Filipino people in building a free, independent, 6 7 just and prosperous society. The enthusiasm of the members of Desaparecidos-Philippines in this regard is quite admirable perhaps as a consequence of the bitter fate their loved ones suffered at the hands of the reactionary state. In just two years of President Noynoy Aquino’s term, hundreds of persons have been killed, abducted and disappeared, tortured, illegally arrested and imprisoned; and thousands more have experienced all forms of violence at the hands of the military, paramilitary and police in the communities from aerial and artillery bombardments, food blockade, hamletting and forced displacements. Yet, the US-backed Aquino regime denies its government’s bloody human rights record under Oplan Bayanihan, and has brashly lied to a foreign government that these grave human rights violations are only left-wing propaganda. We must intensify the struggle against Oplan Bayanihan and the militarization of communities and systematic violations of human rights that are driven and supported by US imperialism. More than ever, we must intensify our solidarity to promote justice for all victims of human rights violations and fight for the rights of the oppressed and exploited masses for liberation. Long live your fighting spirit and aspiration for the liberation of our people! Long live Desaparecidos-Philippines! Strengthen the unity of all the family members of Desaparecidos-Philippines! Fight for justice! 6 7 Persevere in the Struggle Against the Continuing Enforced Disappearances in the Philippines2 by Vicente P. Ladlad I myself have come to know what enforced disappearance is all about. My first wife, Maria Leticia Pascual, was abducted by elements of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forced of the Philippines (ISAFP) in January 1976 in Paco, Manila. Since then, we have been in the dark on her whereabouts. There should not be a let up in our fight against the state’s continuing policy of resorting to enforced disappearance, as well as other forms of human rights violations, in dealing with political activists and other political dissenters, be they members of the revolutionary movement or not. We should not and cannot stop to fight against enforced disappearances because even after the end of Marcos’s martial rule, the succeeding regimes have not abandoned this policy. Many of us have lost a loved one during the fascist regime of Marcos. In that period, there were 254 desaparecidos. Among the known victims was Fr. Rudy Romano from Cebu. The figures do not even include the numerous unreported victims in the Moro areas during the height of the armed struggle for secession led by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). 2 This is a take-off from the keynote address delivered during the Third General Assembly of Desaparecidos- Philippines on November 2, 2012 8 9 We must not forget that even after Marcos was deposed and Mrs. Corazon Aquino, the wife of a prominent martial law victim, took over the government, enforced disappearances continued. There were 65 desaparecidos in 1986 and 100 cases in 1987. In 1988, the number rose to 143. Along with enforced disappearances were brazen murders or extra- judicial killings which included those of lawyers, members of the clergy and well-known activists like Lean Alejandro of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and Rolando Olalia of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). From 1993 to 1999, there were about 10 recorded disappearances every year. In that period, the Ramos government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) were engaged in peace talks. Despite these apparently “low” figures, we should remember that Ramos was the chief of the AFP in the first years of the Aquino government and then Secretary of Defense. The plans and policies against the revolutionary movement which included acts of torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances were under his direct responsibility. Before he was ousted in 2001, Joseph Estrada adopted a new AFP military plan against the revolutionary movement containing an important section on the suppression of civilians suspected of supporting the armed struggle. Such an operation plan was tinkered with and readily approved by the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government as Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL). From eight desaparecidos in 2001, the number rose to 78 victims by 2006. Similarly, cases of extrajudicial killings or salvaging also rose in this period. Oplan Bantay Laya was designed to sow terror in people through killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances. The Arroyo government implemented OBL with such brazenness, that she even honored General Jovito Palparan in her 2004 state of the nation
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