SURFACE JONAS JOSEPH BURGOS!

We are relatives and friends of Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom hero Jose 'Joe'? Burgos, Jr.; and supporters of the Burgos family. We sign this petition to demand that Jonas be immediately surfaced.

On April 28, 2007, at around 1:20 p.m., armed men abducted Jonas as he was having lunch at the Hapag Kainan Restaurant at the Ever Gotesco mall along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. Witnesses saw him being dragged into a van with plate number TAB 194. He has not been seen since then.

Jonas is an agriculturist who teaches organic farming methods to peasants in Bulacan. The van with plate number TAB 194 had been impounded for some time at the headquarters of the Philippine Army's 56th Infantry Battalion, which is based in Norzagaray, Bulacan, after being confiscated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in anti-logging operations.

Jonas is not the first to fall victim to enforced disappearances in this country. Human rights groups have documented a total of 199 victims of forced disappearances in the Philippines since 2001. Jonas is the 16th victim this year alone.

The enforced disappearances are taking place alongside the widespread extra-judicial killings of activists and other government critics.

Many of the victims were confirmed to have been active in cause-oriented groups, while the rest were not affiliated with any political organization. In several of the cases, state forces have been identified as the perpetrators.

With the recent rushed passage of an Anti-Terrorism Bill that allows the warrantless arrest and indefinite detention of anyone merely suspected to be even remotely involved in 'terroristic' activities, we fear that there will be many others who will meet the same fate as that of Jonas and others before him.

It is among the most bitter of ironies that the son of a revered fighter for press freedom and other democratic rights should be forced to disappear today - more than 21 years after the country was supposed to have reclaimed democracy through the People Power I uprising, a revolt that inspired millions around the world to topple authoritarian and even totalitarian governments in their own countries. It is among the most bitter of ironies that more than 21 years after the supposed restoration of democracy in the country, there is an observable slide back to the dark days when democratic rights were conspicuous in their being completely illusory.

We demand the immediate surfacing of Jonas Burgos and all other victims of enforced disappearances. We demand justice for all victims of extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations.