Accents
Si Luisa, si Nilo, si Jonas, atbp. (3)
Luisa Posa Dominado + Nilo Arado + Jonas Burgos, at iba pa = 205 desaparicidos. Kind of cryptic? Simple math actually if we go by the year-ender report of Karapatan, the alliance of human rights organizations for the protection and defense of human rights. A total of 205 human beings were forcibly yanked away from their loved ones—family and their circle of friends. No heart-tugging moment of Goodbye from anyone. Their hopes and dreams gone kaput like thin soap bubbles dissolving in the air.
Since the reign of gloria in excelsis deo (yes, glory to god in the highest, small letters intended) for all of 2001-2009, Karapatan has monitored 205 disappeared persons or what Latinos call desaparecidos. The Spanish word for “the disappeared,” desaparecidos symbolized the thousands of Argentinians missing without a trace when the country was under a dictatorship, 1976 to 1983. Ours is a democratic government, not a dictatorship — yet Karapatan has on record appalling numbers that make Arroyo’s administration worse than that of dictator Marcos. In addition to the 205 desaparecidos, GMA has scored 1,188 extrajudicial killings and 2007 illegal arrests and tortures.
“Disapearances” or Desaparecidos, the most horrifying of human rights violations creates a limbo of helplessness to those left behind. A husband, a wife, a brother or sister, parent, child, or any of the relatives or colleague would simply vanish, the authorities denying holding them or having any knowledge of their whereabouts or fate, even if there were witnesses to their kidnappings or arrests. No detention records, no death notices, no graveyard, no bones. Nada. And this brings to mind a tale herein retold plus a scary message, rather a chilling tip, to the next victim:
It happened during the grim years of Martial Law. Clutching at a straw for dear life, one woman was able to circumvent her “disappearance” from the face of the earth. The scene was one of Manila’s busy streets. A passenger jeep was stopped by the military and a girl in her twenties (let’s call her Juana or Jane) was forcibly dragged out of her seat to the consternation of the rest of the passengers who were all strangers to the girl. Fearful that she could fall under the statistic of the ‘disappeared,’ Jane had the presence of mind to shout out her residence phone number. Some of the passengers recalled the telephone number and notified her parents. It is said, to this day, Jane is still very much alive, courtesy of parents who pulled strings for their daughter to surface. She was lucky to have a father and mother both entrenched in high government positions. Luisa’s daughters May Wan and Tamara, and Nilo’s wife Rosemarie do not have connections in the upper echelons of the Arroyo administration.
The more well known Dr. Edita Burgos, wife of media icon Joe Burgos, failed in her efforts to retrieve her son Jonas from oblivion. It was said Jonas shouted to the bystanders that he’s an activist as he was being dragged out from the mall. One desperate move of Jonas that didn’t help any to rouse action from the crowd unlike Jane’s co-passengers who called up her parents’ phone number. Lesson learned: Shout if you can. If at all possible, leave an identification mark, be it a shoe or whatever personal possession you have on. In the case of Luisa and Nilo, their abduction happened in the dead of night. No witnesses to the incident. When barrio folks came around, there was only Leeboy Garachico, Luisa and Nilo’s companion, bleeding from a gunshot wound.
Amnesty International distinguishes a case of “disappearance” from that of a missing person, a kidnapping, an incommunicado detention, or an extrajudicial execution by the following: (1) There are reasonable grounds to believe that a person (the victim) has been taken into custody by the authorities or their agent. (2) The authorities deny that the victim is in their custody or the custody of their agent. (3) There are reasonable grounds to disbelieve that denial.
Denial of accountability makes a “disappearance” unique among human rights violations. “By its very nature,” states Amnesty International, “a ‘disappearance’ clouds the identity of its perpetrator. If there is no prisoner, no body, no victim, then presumably no one can be accused of having done anything.” But where there is a consistent pattern of grave human rights violations, Amnesty International believes blame may be attributed to the government concerned—if only by implication—under the principle that a state’s primary responsibility is to protect the safety of its citizens. (Underscoring mine)
Cognizant of the obvious inefficacy of the once sacred Writ of Habeas Corpus “to produce the body,” the Supreme Court came up with the Writ of Amparo and the supplemental Habeas Data. Chief Justice Reynato Puno “proclaimed the legal birth of these twin peremptory writs on October, 2007, as his legacy to the Filipino nation… By invoking the truth, Habeas Data will not only compel military and government agents to release information about the desaparecidos but require access to military and police files. Reynato Puno’s writ of amparo — Spanish for protection — will bar military officers in judicial proceedings to issue denial answers regarding petitions on disappearances or extrajudicial executions, which were legally permitted in Habeas corpus proceedings.” Very strong words conceived to solve the extensive Philippine extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances committed under the Arroyo administration.
Did the Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data produce Luisa, Nilo, Jonas, at iba pa? Nada. Like the Warrant of Arrest and Due Process of Law, the Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data are profound legal terms. Great for liberty, justice, and democracy. However, the strength of the implementation remains to be seen. Remains to be seen. What a sad refrain.
(Email: lagoc@hargray.com)
