Kin of 2 missing activists still hoping they're alive
Families of two missing Iloilo activists have renewed their appeal for the release of their loves who were abducted more than a year ago.
The daughters of Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado and the wife of Nilo Arado called on their captors to release them alive and unharmed as they marked the 27thyear of the commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared last Saturday.
"Everyday we think of Nanay and Tito Nilo. We worry about their condition and what could the persons who abducted them might be doing to them," said Dominado's daughter May Wan, 26, and Tamara, 16, in a joint statement.
Rosemarie Arado said she will not stop looking for her husband Nilo.
"As long as I have not seen his remains. I will still believe that he is alive," she said.
Heavily armed men abducted Dominado and Arado on April 12, 2007 in Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town, 7 km south of Iloilo City. The unidentified men waylaid the victims' vehicle, shot and seriously wounded human rights worker Jose Ely Garachico and left him for dead.
Dominado, a prominent political detainee during the Marcos Dictatorship, was the spokesperson in Panay of the Samahan ng Mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda) while Arado was the chair of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Panay when they were abducted.
Their companion, human rights worker Jose Ely Garachico was shot but survived . Their vehicle was found badly burned in a sugarcane field in Janiuay town 30 km from where they were waylaid.
The victims' families and colleagues have blamed military agents for the abduction pointing to the similarity of the manner of the abduction with that of other cases in other places in the country. But this has been repeatedly denied by military officials.
The Iloilo Regional Trial Court is hearing the petition for a writ of amparo filed by the families of the missing activists against police and military officials.
On Saturday, May Wan and Rosemarie joined around 100 activists in a protest led by the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan calling for the release of all missing activists.
The families of the missing activists said it is getting more difficult for them each day not knowing of their loved one is alive or not.
"As the days go by, it is difficult to to keep alive our hopes that they we can still find them. Our tears are not enough to express the pain in our hearts," the daughters of Dominado said.
But they said they cannot give up looking for them despite their discouraging situation.
"We also think that if Nanay and Tito Nilo were here, they would not stop looking if any of their friends were abducted. So we cannot stop looking for them," they said.