An Appeal to all

April 28, 2008 marks the first year of the abduction of Jonas. The family has engaged in all the peaceful means available to it to recover Jonas from his captors.

While trying our best not to leave any stone unturned by pursuing all leads and seeking relief from all agencies through all avenues, nonetheless, Jonas remains to be missing. In the legal battle that the family is pursuing, we have unmasked the cover up characterized by lies and deceit, participated in by the heads of government police forces to protect the perpetrators of the crime against Jonas. The very forces tasked to protect the people are intent on hiding the truth about Jonas’ disappearance.

While we realize that we are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, we firmly believe that our God is the God of Mercy and He will not turn a deaf ear to His people who seek justice. On April 28 we shall as a big family raise our voices in prayer at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and pray for Jonas and the other disappeared.

I appeal to you to come march and pray with us. . . join our voices and help us find strength and courage to remain steadfast in our search for Jonas and the other victims of enforced disappearance.

Edita Burgos

 

 

SALAMAT, SALAMAT, SALAMAT!

Taus-pusong pasasalamat sa lahat ng mga tumutulong.

 

 

JONAS TURNS 38 ( A celebration of thanksgiving and love)

Yesterday marked the 11th month since Jonas was forcibly abducted. Today, Jonas turns 38.

With family and friends, we celebrate this gift of life in spite of the fact that Jonas remains to be missing because Jonas continues to be a gift especially to the disappeared and their families. We believe that by his being disappeared, Jonas is accomplishing the mission he was sent on earth to do, which is - by his disappearance, Jonas has given a face to those who have been victims of enforced and illegal disappearances. And the family joins its will to the Almighty who decrees all things.

If Jonas is the altar upon whom our Oblation of Love must be offered, then we celebrate this gift in the spirit of thanksgiving. We also celebrate it in the spirit of compassion for those who have been instrumental in Jonas’ disappearance.

Those who have ordered his abduction, those who have abducted him, those who have tortured him, those who continue holding him captive . . . we address this message: The heavenly Father is a merciful God. He forgives all, all that we must do is to approach Him and ask for forgiveness and live a renewed life. We pray that all of you would be enlightened and right the wrong/s you have done to Jonas and the other disappeared. If before, you had to act upon orders of your superiors, today, you are freed from that and must listen to the voice of our Lord. Abduction and killing will always be wrong. It will always be a sin. It is not only those who have participated in the ordering, the abduction and all the means that lead to Jonas’ continued disappearance who are guilty, but also those who have the knowledge but do not act to help in the surfacing of Jonas and victims of disappearance sin as well. How can we face the Lord when we attend services, or pray to Him, knowing our hands and hearts are soiled by this participation?

It is not too late. The choice is yours. The benefit and the gain you get for your continued silence and participation in this sin will only last for a lifetime at most, but the damage it will do may mean the loss of your soul for all eternity.

We plead to those who have the knowledge of how we can find Jonas to come out clean and to make right the wrong they have committed. Call us, see us, talk to our friends. Help us find Jonas. You have been forgiven. We pray for your soul.

We want to celebrate Jonas’ 38th birthday with love the way Jonas loved his country.

The FAMILY OF JONAS JOSEPH TRONQUED-BURGOS

March 29, 2008

 

 

Letter to Jay

My dearest Jay,

I feel this restlessness in you and I am afraid you would be gone before we are back. If this happens, I cannot let you go without letting you know all the unspoken words that are haunting me.

I shall not dwell on my fears ... the dangers to your soul, the apprehensions of a mother ... the anxieties for a loved one. You already know these for I have told you so at our family council.

The mother in me feels this complete helplessness ... one I have never felt before ... not even when your ate told us she was getting married, nor when your kuya had his own share of problems. I knew somehow I would always be able to reach out and offer my hand if they needed me. But in your case, I feel that if a time comes when somehow there would be a need for a helping hand, I would not be near enough to let that hand be mine.

You were always the unique son ... eager to live life the fullest, impatient with the strings that kept you bound to heart and hearth. You showed this even when you first came out into this world ... in not more than 40 minutes that Easter Sunday.

Through your childhood, at play, in school and with your peers, you were always restless ... as if in search of a missing treasure. I know I cannot hold you any longer. But it pains me so much to let you go. If only I could get an assurance that you would remain faithful to the faith you grew up with in the family, somehow the pain would be lessened. But as I said earlier, I shall not dwell on fears.

If you must go in search of the truth, I pray that your search would be guided by the light and not by the darkness that breeds on distortions and errors.

The agony a mother must go through for love of her children is indescribable. I have no complaints. I shall not even mind for as long as you know that I am always here ready to welcome you back.

Bring this love with you and know that for as long as you are away from home, I shall be praying for you.

Life must go on in our family. Your brothers and sisters need our care still. The small ones need more than our care. I will always have that void and I shall be missing you.

But I cannot allow you to leave with a heavy heart. So take my blessings with you. May the angels keep you safe wherever you go. May the good Lord bless you and keep you always.

Remember, I love you very much.

Moms

 

 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2008 Joe's Birthday

Today, Joe Burgos Jr, Jonas' father, would have turned 67. If he were still with us today, we would have had a simple yet joyous celebration with friends, colleagues and relatives. Joe always remembered to thank The Lord for the gift of life. (His daily ordinary 'living' was itself an expression of this gratitude.) His way would be to gather family and friends around him and share whatever blessings he would have at the moment.

During lean times, Joe would still celebrate and share memories and laughter with everyone.

This year, in keeping with this tradition, we celebrate -- and share. We celebrate not only the gift of family which has been a solid anchor in our search for Jonas, but also the gift of relatives and friends who have rallied behind us in these trying times.

We celebrate the gift of strangers who have expressed sympathy wherever we met them. We celebrate unnamed, faceless people from our beloved country and from other distant lands whose hearts wept with us, and who have offered prayers pleading with The Father that Jonas would be alive and well.

You have shared part of yourselves and for this we are truly grateful.

It is, indeed, a rare opportunity that we are blessed with the company of people whose very presence makes us aware that the Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us in a special way. We are reminded that even as Jonas remains missing, he is being taken cared of by Our Father. And that care given by The Father can never be outdone. We share this joyful thought with you.

We firmly believe that when we are ready, all will be revealed to us. We share this belief with you.

On Joe’s 67th birth anniversary and as we start the new year, the Burgos family offers a prayer of gratitude for all of you. We commend all of you in a special way to the Lord. We pray that you will continue loving others in the way that you have loved Jonas' family.

As we pray for you we also ask you to pray for those who have been responsible for the abductions and the killings. We appeal to all to ask The Lord to give them new hearts. The way of peace can only start when there is forgiveness. We can all start by praying for them.

It may help if we remember that " When the heart is ready, the harvest will come. . . . Don't worry about all the unspoken, the unnamed, the undelivered. . . . Yearn for the yielding, but be patient. . . . Talk to the restlessness. . . . Sit with confusion. . . . Dance with paradoxes and sip tea and smile while you wait."( Joyce Ruppy)

May The Lord keep you and bless you always.

Edith and Peachy, Sonny, Jayel and Ann for Jonas

 

 

Surface the desaparecidos ! - Filipino Musicians

"Narinig nyo na ba ang Huling Balita tungkol kay Mang Kardo isang Manggagawa? (Have you heard the latest news about Mang Kardo the worker?) This is the first line in a classic song 'Huling Balita" written by poet and singer-songwriter Jess Santiago depicting the story of Mang Kardo and many other countless victims of forced disappearances during the dark days of Martial Law.

On December 11, 2007, as part of the Human Rights week commemoration, the message of Santiago's song will resonate in a special concert at the UP Film Center in Quezon City, which aims to once again draw attention to the issue of forced disappearances in the Philippines.

"The concert is part of a bigger collaborative initiative of artists, musicians, photographers and filmmakers seeking to respond to the issue of enforced disappearances" according to JL Burgos brother of missing activist Jonas Burgos and coordinator of the Free Jonas Burgos Movement (FJBM) one of the organizers of the event.

"This is an extremely personal issue for me, and I hope that these songs will help a lot more people not just understand the issue but feel incensed that this is happening in our country today" adds Burgos.

Aside from the performances, 'Huling Balita: the concert' will also feature the live recording of eight new songs touching on the issue of forced disappearances. These new songs draw inspiration from the stories and struggles of those left behind and a product of the musicians' interaction with the families of the disappeared and campaigners on the issue.

"The song Huling Balita was written in the 1970's as a response to what was happening then during the dark days of the Marcos Dictatorship, it saddens me that this song remains relevant to this day" laments songwriter Jess Santiago.

By choosing to put the spotlight on the plight of the desaparecidos and their families, respected progressive musicians like Santiago and Noel Cabangon, working side by side with their younger counterparts, are hoping that the last word on the issue will be one of justice.

 

 

No to censorship! No to political repression!-FJBM

Since Jonas Burgos was abducted by the military last April 28, 2007, the family and friends of Jonas Burgos organized the FREE JONAS BURGOS MOVEMENT (FJBM) precisely to campaign for the immediate and safe release of Jonas Burgos and other desaparecidos.

One of the campaigns of the FJBM, with the help of other organizations and artists, is the production of Public Service Ads called “RIGHTS”, a collection of independently produced advocacy plugs about the present human rights situation in the Philippines. Different artists and filmmakers freely and creatively participated in the growing movement to defend human rights in the country. “RIGHTS” was slated to be shown at the Robinsons Galleria, Cinema 3on September 21, 2007.

On September 19, 2007, the Independent Filmmakers Cooperative (IFC), one of the orgs helping the FJBM, received a letter from the Movie & Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairman Consoliza Laguardia. The MTRCB informed the IFC that “RIGHTS” was reviewed on September 18, and was classified “X”—Not Fit for Public Exhibition for the following reasons: “Scenes in this films are presented unfairly, one-sided, and undermines the faith and confidence of the people in the government and duly constituted authorities, thus, not fit for public viewing.”

We are very disappointed with the decision of the MTRCB to classify “RIGHTS” with an “X” rating. The ruling stifles freedom of the speech and expression and serves only the interests of the government.

When Jonas was abducted, the Burgos Family went to different democratic institutions of this government. The family asked for the help of the following institution: Commission on Human Rights, which up to now has yet to release its findings on the Jonas case; The Philippine National Police, which is not even vigorously investigating the abduction of Jonas and now seems to be a part of the cover-up of this government; The Armed Forces of the Philippines, which up to now has yet to release its provost martial report even though Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said they will abide by the court’s decision; The Office of the President, Department of Justice, which after state prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco ordered the investigation of different agents of the state was sacked by the Secretary of Justice for the premature revelation to the media of vital information about the case. And now the MTRCB is telling us that scenes in the “RIGHTS” as UNFAIR, ONE-SIDED and UNDERMINES THE FAITH and CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE IN THEIR GOVERNMENT and/or DULY CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES.

I remember that my father, the late JOSE BURGOS JR., fought for freedom of speech and expression during the dark years of martial law, I though that we have it now.

The FJBM is saddened by this development. Is this the democracy that this government wants? Is this the democracy that our martyrs and heroes of martial law era fought for?

Today, as we remember the ugly past of Martial Law, I would like to raise a question… who is now UNFAIR, ONE-SIDED and UNDERMINES THE FAITH and CONFIDENCE OF ITS PEOPLE?

The Free Jonas Burgos Movement will oppose censorship. We will oppose political repression. And we will oppose human rights violations.

JL BURGOS Convenor, FJBM

 

Edita Burgos files habeas corpus petition at Supreme Court for Jonas

THE mother of activist-farmer Jonas Burgos on Wednesday (July 11) filed a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court, asking it to order the military to produce her son, who was abducted more than two months ago, and to order as well the Philippine National Police (PNP) to resume the investigation of his abduction in a Quezon City mall. Edita T. Burgos included President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as respondent, asking the high court to order her, “as Commander-in-Chief, to investigate who among the other respondents have command responsibility for the enforced disappearance” of Jonas.

“Petitioner has filed this petition to plead this Honorable Court to order the respondents to produce her son or release him from arbitrary detention. Should the respondents be unable to produce or release him, it is prayed that this Honorable Court will order respondents to find out who caused the enforced disappearance of her son, who ordered his abduction, to bring to justice those responsible for such crime,” said the petition, filed in Edita’s behalf by her lawyers, former UP Law Dean Pacifico Agabin, Ricardo N. Fernandez and Ma. Verena Kasilag-Villanueva.

Then, as if pinning hope on the Judicial Summit called by the Chief Justice next week, amid concern raised in judicial circles about the rash of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances, Mrs. Burgos---widow of the late world press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr.---also said in her pleading that “it is the hope of the petitioner that this Honorable Court will ‘promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights’ (Constitution, Article VIII, Section 5 (5)] and thereby enable State institutions to enforce human rights more effectively and to prevent enforced disappearances of activists and other forms of gross violations of human rights.

Respondents in the habeas corpus petition are the AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo P. Tolentino, Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez, Maj. Gen. Delfin Bangit, Lt. Col. Noel Clement, and Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano.

Esperon and Bangit, the chief of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (Isafp) have lately been publicly debating with Mrs. Burgos after she openly stated last week that she had been led to no other conclusion than that the military had taken her son on the afternoon he disappeared while eating lunch alone in a food court of the Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City.

Burgos had castigated Esperon for refusing to furnish her a copy of the investigation report of the military’s Provost Marshall and Inspector General; and Bangit, for quickly denying that any Isafp operative was involved in the abduction even before a special task force completes its investigation.

Specifically, Mrs. Burgos asked the Supreme Court to direct Esperon, Tolentino, Gomez, Bangit, Clement, and Feliciano “to make themselves available to the police for the investigation, to allow access by the police of documents, including report of the Provost Marshal and Inspector General, facilities and personnel relevant or required in the investigation.”

The PNP’s Task Force Usig and the Quezon City police had handled the investigation from the start, taking down testimonies of eyewitnesses and documenting the trail that led to the license plate of the vehicle used in the abduction. The plate was traced to a vehicle impounded by the Army for illegal logs transport, and kept at the Army’s 56th Infantry Battallion based in Norzagaray, Bulacan. Clement and Feliciano were included as respondents because they were former heads of the 56th IB.

Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez is the commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Division. He and Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino were included in the petition as superiors of Clement and Feliciano.

The petitioner also asked the court to direct PNP chief Gen. Oscar Calderon “to continue with the investigation of the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos but with vigor, diligence, thoroughness and impartiality to find Jonas, who abducted him, who ordered his abduction and to file the appropriate case or cases against the persons responsible with the proper prosecutor.”

Jonas, according to witnesses Elsa Agasang and Larry Marquez whose statements were taken by the police, was forcibly taken by a group of six males and one female who identified themselves to be “PULIS” while he was having lunch at the Hapag Kainan Restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall at 1:30 p,m. of April 28. As he was being forcibly taken, he was shouting “Aktibista lang po ako!” Marquez saw Jonas forced into a vehicle with plate no. TAB 194. Police investigators also made cartographic sketches of the abductors as described by witnesses.

In seeking recourse at the high court, Jonas’s mother said that besides getting the police to investigate the abduction, she had “exhausted all the remedies available in the democratic institutions of the State mandated to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights but she still has not found Jonas. She has gone to ISAFP and the Chief of Staff of the AFP but they deny that they have Jonas. She reported the crime committed against Jonas to the Philippine National Police but the police have almost stopped its investigation because they have lost the initiative or the army is not cooperating or both. She sought the help of the Office of the President and the Executive Secretary has arranged for her to meet the Chief of Staff and the President has encouraged her to meet with him but still the Chief of Staff would not meet with her nor give her a copy of the report of the Provost Marshal. She has attended the public hearing of the CHR and requested for a copy of its report but she is still waiting for that report.”

Thus, she told the court, her “last resort is the constitutional branch vested with judicial power, this Honorable Supreme Court.”

Jonas, she told the court, “was born and raised in, and is a citizen of this country. His right to life and liberty is guaranteed by the Constitution. (Article III, Section 1) Those rights are sacred and are inviolable.”

She said his human rights were violated “when he was abducted by suspected agents of the State on April 28th” and detailed the evidence that led her to that conclusion---mainly, the eyewitness testimonies contained in the police report, tracing the license plates of the abductors’ vehicle; and General Esperon’s unacceptable refusal to give her a copy of the Army Provost Marshall report.

“The conduct of Gen. Esperon tells me that the Army is hiding from me information of vital investigative value in the Jonas case. First, he refused to see me and my representatives despite the fact that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had arranged the meeting and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo encouraged me to see him. And then he turns down my request for a copy of the report of the Provost Marshal and the Inspector General.

“Gen. Esperon’s conduct or rather, misconduct, only reinforces my belief that the Army abducted Jonas and Gen. Esperon is covering up for the Army”.

Meanwhile, she said, “more than two weeks have gone by since the CHR concluded its public hearing on the Jonas case and its announcement that it will release its report but CHR has not yet done so and neither has it released the documents requested by the petitioner.”

Director Geary Barias of the PNP’s Task Force Usig turned down her request for a copy of its progress report on its investigation and instead, directed her to get a copy from CHR.

“Petitioner has not heard from the police ever since. The police investigation has not progressed from the discovery of the fact that plate no. TAB 194 identified by the security guard witness was under the custody of the 56th Infantry Battalion and the statements of the witnesses, sketches of the suspects, statements of the army officers. The police have not asked the AFP for the summary of information of the three colonels – their personal circumstances, service records, their assignments before and after 56th IB. They have not lined up the members of the 56th IB for possible identification of the eye witnesses.”

She expressed apprehension that, as “the police investigators and the army officers to be investigated are all alumni of the Philippine Military Academy,” their “strong sense of brotherhood” may be holding back “the police from conducting a more thorough and impartial investigation of their fellow PMA alumni in the army.”

The petitioner, meanwhile, underscored the constitutional provision in Article II, Section 11: The “State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights” and stressed that such commitment by the State to respect and protect the human rights of Jonas “is not only between the State and Jonas as a citizen pursuant to the Constitution, but also a commitment by the State or the Republic of the Philippines to other State signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Petitioner Burgos also cited two more relevant constitutional provisions: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State”. (Constitution, Article II, Section 3); and one saying, “The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people”. (Art. II Section 4)

She asked the court to order the agents of the State to “take appropriate measures to investigate enforced disappearance cases committed by persons or groups of persons acting without the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State and to bring those responsible to justice.”

She said it is the duty of the State to ensure that persons suspected of having committed an offense of enforced disappearance are not in a position to influence the progress of the investigations by means of pressure or acts of intimidation or reprisal aimed at the complainant, witnesses, relatives of the disappeared person or their defense counsel, or at persons participating in the investigation.

In including as respondent President Arroyo, “in her capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the AFP, and having absolute authority over the persons and actions of the members of the Armed Forces (Gudani et al. v. Senga et al., 475 SCRA 671),” petitioner Burgos said she should be held responsible for the disappearance of Jonas, considering that “long before the case of Jonas Burgos, a number of forced disappearance and summary killings of political activists and militants, have been perpetrated by the military,” as detailed in the Melo Commission Report, dated January 22, 2007.

“These killings have been reported almost daily in newspapers of general circulation more than two years before the enforced disappearance of Burgos,” the petitioner noted. Moreover, “in February, 2007, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights came to Manila to investigate the reported summary executions of activists and journalists, and he rendered a report concluding that soldiers were responsible for the extrajudicial killings, and he chastised the AFP top brass for its state of denial about the military involvement in these crimes.”

Finally, petitioner said ‘The failure of Respondents to act to prevent summary executions of activists, students and journalists and to provide measures likely to prevent or deter extrajudicial killings as well as their failure to prosecute perpetrators of these crimes make them liable under the doctrine of “command responsibility” as defined in international and domestic law, and even under Executive Order No. 226 dated February 25, 1995 and under ththe Revised Administrative Code of 1987.”#