Palparan on the Run Evading Peoples Manhunt

Support the call of the mothers of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño for a PEOPLE’S MANHUNT for Palparan! JAIL PALPARAN! JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!

RIGHTS ALLIANCE CALL ON NETIZENS TO SUPPORT CALL FOR JUSTICE, ASKS TO POST "WANTED: PALPARAN" POSTERS ON THEIR PROFILES

The End Impunity Alliance, a network of victims of human rights violations, human rights defenders and civil libertarians, today called on all netizens, especially Facebook users, to help the mothers of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno to attain justice for their missing daughters by participating in the “People’s Manhunt” for Ret. Major General Jovito Palparan and his co-accused M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario through posting on their profiles the “Wanted: Palparan” poster released by Karapatan, Desaparecidos and Hustisya. (poster attached)

“The internet is venue for supporting many causes including this very important quest for justice of the mothers of the two disappeared UP students. All netizens are enjoined to post this poster on their profiles to make known to internet users the face and name of this notorious human rights violator and seek information on his whereabouts to cause his immediate arrest,” said Cristina Palabay, convenor of End Impunity Alliance.

The call for “People’s Manhunt” was issued by the mothers last December 21, after warrants of arrest were issued by Branch 14 of the Malolos City Regional Trial Court in Bulacan. The warrants came after the Department of Justice found probable cause on the charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention filed by Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeno, mothers of the 2 UP students. The criminal case was filed by the mothers in May 2011.

On December 19, Palparan was not allowed to take the flight from Clark International Airport to Singapore. The Bureau of Immigration likewise released a hold departure order for Palparan and his cohorts. Two of Palparan’s co-accused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio have surrendered to authorities, while Palparan and Hilario remains at large.

In using the poster in their profiles, netizens are also requested to post this short note: “Support the call of Sherlyn and Karen's mothers for a PEOPLE'S MANHUNT for Palparan! JAIL PALPARAN! JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS! Use this profile picture to spread the word about the need to arrest one of the most notorious human rights violators.”

“Three days after the warrants of arrest against Palparan et al, he has evaded accountability by trying to leave the country and by being a fugitive. We call on the public to help the victims’ mothers by giving information which is not only an exercise of vigilance and compassion, but an act, however small it may be, in making perpetrators pay for their high crimes against the victims and the Filipino people. Ending impunity in the country, when state institutions have been remiss in pursuing justice and accountability, rests on the people’s advocacy and struggle for genuine democracy and freedom,” Palabay further said.

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Politics Filipinos  Philippine Politics Human Rights desaparecidos

NATIONAL UNION OF PEOPLES LAWYERS DENOUNCES COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ON ROXAS CASE

Melissa Roxas' Press Conference (2 of 4): Statement by Melissa Roxas from Habi Arts on Vimeo.

Late last year, the Supreme Court of the Philippines in Roxas v Arroyo ordered the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the abduction and torture of Fil-Am activist Melissa Roxas. In her amparo petition, Roxas claimed that she was abducted by elements belonging to the Philippine military. The Supreme Court found that the police and the military investigations on the abduction were one-sided. In ordering the CHR to conduct a thorough investigation, the Supreme Court said:

Ironic as it seems, but part and parcel of the reason why (Roxas) was not able to adduce substantial evidence proving her allegations of government complicity in her abduction and torture, may be attributed to the incomplete and one-sided investigations conducted by the government itself. This “awkward” situation, wherein the very persons alleged to be involved in an enforced disappearance or extralegal killing are, at the same time, the very ones asked by law to investigate the matter, is a unique characteristic of these proceedings and is the main source of the “evidentiary difficulties” faced by any petitioner in any amparo case.

Last week, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines en banc released its resolution which may be summarized in one sentence: The New People's Army, not the military, abducted and tortured Roxas! However, the CHR did not substantiate this with any evidence. Rights groups all over the country were and remain outraged. In a press release today, the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers, the largest organization of human rights lawyers and paralegals in the country, through Atty. Edre U. Olalia, its Secretary General, castigated the CHR for its resolution.

The full text of the NUPL press release is as follows:

RIGHTS LAWYERS TELL CHR – STOP OBSCURING TRUTH REGARDING FIL-AM ACTIVIST TORTURE

Human rights lawyers association National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) challenged the resolution of the Commission of Human Rights on the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas, a Filipino-American activist and Bayan-USA member.

“We are at a loss to interpret such illogical legal reasoning ,” states NUPL Secretary-General Atty. Edre Olalia. He was referring to the Resolution’s findings that Roxas was indeed abducted and tortured, but then stops short of holding the military accountable. The resolution further went into unprecedented speculations on who could possibly be behind these human rights violations, pointing at the New People’s Army (NPA).

Roxas was abducted on May 19, 2009 in La Paz, Tarlac. She was repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological torture to force a confession that she was a member of the NPA.

The Resolution states that there was “insufficient evidence” to conclude that military agents were the ones behind Roxas’ abduction and torture. It then, in a leap of inference perhaps betraying a scarcity of objectivity, went on to say that it has received “information” from unspecified individuals saying that the NPA could have possibly committed the kidnapping and other human rights violations on Roxas.

Atty. Olalia points out that “the CHR is quick to deflect AFP’s hand in Melissa’s torture, while giving credence to flimsy and questionable sources to surmise NPA involvement. However, CHR was not able to produce a shred of evidence to substantiate its incredible claims.”

The CHR itself admits the dubiousness of its findings, adding in its defense, “the failure to identify specific persons to accuse and hold responsible is not fatal to the competence of the CHR to make a finding on the question of the commission of human rights violation.”

The Court of Appeals had earlier granted Roxas’ petition for a writ of amparo, declaring that her testimony was “credible and worthy of belief.” The Supreme Court itself had additionally directed that further investigation be conducted with the use of extraordinary diligence in order to identify the perpetrators behind the abduction and torture. And yet with one stroke of the pen, the CHR aims to remove the burden of responsibility on the military to prove that it was not guilty of abducting and torturing Roxas. “Where is this extraordinary diligence?” asks Atty. Olalia. “It is downright ironic for the CHR, which is constitutionally tasked to investigate human rights violations, to be the first to mask the AFP’s role in Melissa’s abduction and torture.”

Joining other other human rights victims, their relatives, and human rights advocates, the NUPL tells the CHR, “Stick to the issue: given the facts, pattern, motive, means, opportunity and context of her ordeal, Melissa was clearly abducted and tortured by the State security forces under the Oplan Bantay Laya program of GMA. Ignoring the overwhelming facts will only engender impunity and make perpetrators gloat and swagger like they were her protectors rather than cut them down to size and make them accountable.”#

Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary - General (09175113373)

Posted by: CHERYL L. DAYTEC

Lorelei Fajardo the GloriLIE & Philippine Comical Ali Clone on Abduction & Torture

Remember the Iraqi Minister of Information during the reign of Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf better known as Comical Ali or Baghdad Bob for his outrageous delusional lies he desperately tries to peddle to the international press at the height of the invasion?
He was one nut that gave us a comic relief at the way he single-handedly conducts his Goebbel style propaganda without batting an eyelash proclaiming their victory when their soldiers was actually surrendering or deserting en masse. It seems Gloria Arroyo’s administration has no shortage of Comical Ali’s looking like a fool in response to abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas when I posted her foolish statement at PJ's FaceBook notes, to quote:

Lorelei Fajardo on Melissa Roxas Abduction & Torture

I found out that presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo is on FaceBook so I sent her a message below, I just don't know if she will respond:

Are you serious? In case you are forgetting civilians a foreigner at that unlike the government where you belong have no way of coming up with evidence except the injuries they sustained and their affidavit on the abduction and torture. You have all the agencies at your disposal to order a thorough investigation and yet you come up with foolish statements which I quote from inquirer article below:

In Malacañang, Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesperson, said Roxas should come up with evidence to prove her allegations.

“Many people are coming up with black propaganda just to get attention or create a scenario, which would not be productive,” she said. “The government should not be giving attention to these.”

Duh, what was that all about? Just like Baghdad Bob she together with Cerge Remonde truly makes you wonder if they were trying out for an audition in a stand up comic act or they are just so dense and outrageously dumb. Well, they are probably not thinking or incapable of thinking but then again as spokesperson of the cheating errr seating president they are not suppose to think but blabber away the president’s stand on issues. And blabber they surely did with precise accuracy laying out Arroyo’s stand on the issue that she condones and encourage political abduction and torture.

Seeing LoreLIE Fajardo’s absurd statement is truly incredible and for Cerge Remonde to follow it up with more hogwash below on the same inquirer article makes you wonder if they are sane enough to be allowed to mingle with people in our society:

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde was also not immediately buying Roxas’ account. “We know that there are groups that do nothing but destroy the President.”

Is he nut or something? There is really no need to destroy the cheating errr seating president because no one particular group can do a better job of destroying the presidency of Gloria Arroyo with questionable mandate but they themselves as seen in their shameless Con ASS political maneuverings and countless scandals involving billions of pesos that is so obviously leading to the usual suspects….. themselves.

Of course we can understand why they buy the military’s version of the incident insisting they have “investigated” and found “no” military personnel was involved as in using the weakest defense of all time the alibi and yet the blabbermouths errr mouthpiece of Malacañang without showing any shred of evidence points to the “destabilizers” with certainty and authority. Hello, either these nuts are hopelessly gullible or they try their best to please the scalawags in the military who seems to be the majority that keeps Gloria Arroyo in power. The military that is a breeding ground for certified little Hitler’s and Machiavellian disciples with past history of concocting scenarios that led to martial law under Dictator Marcos and now it seems they are on to some plot according to Ding Gagelonia at Philippine Commentary. Just because they are buying the military's denial it does not mean that people are buying it as seen on the numerous response we got at FaceBook notes where they can't even sell it for cheap even if we leave Jocelyn 'Joc Joc' Bolante as payment, lol.

Now exactly how credible is this administration whenever they make a pronouncement? I say nil to almost none especially when we hear about Gloria Arroyo's "self-Quarantine" that I should say is more of a black propaganda.... no I take it back, I should say more of ... oh just read it below...... ok, more of what the Hayden camera and former antique errr mama oooops lover Vicki Belo loves to do (ok, I know what you are thinking.... no it is not about sex video but augmentation mammoplasty, lol) than self-sacrifice if this report by Manila Bulletin is accurate:

The informant, who requested anonymity since the source was not authorized to speak about the matter, said the President was scheduled to undergo augmentation mammoplasty at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

In addition, a cyst or lump in the groin area was also scheduled to be removed by surgery, said the hospital source.

A biopsy was also done on her breast, the source said. This does not mean that the President was ill. This was part of regular medical procedures, the source added.

I don't know about you but that is really bizarre, augmentation as in breast implant? Now, how can we believe the blabbering mouthpiece duo of Malacañang when they blabber about self-quarantine that was not exactly what it is but more about breast implants?

I realized that this is a serious matter but on the other hand they have the uncanny ability to bring out comical relief at their expense proof of their negative credibility if ever they even have any. At the rate they take a Baghdad Bob stance you know they are really losing it. So out of it that Mila Aguilar came out with her poetic justice errr was “inspired” to write about Gloria’s Lorelei...... But, unlike the legendary rock on the River Rhine from which a mermaid would haunt sailors to certain shipwreck, this LoreLIE does not exactly bring enchanted bliss but they themselves wallow in their own blissful ignorance.

Lorelei is LoreLIE, who is in truth GloriLIE

Oh, the lie, the lie that we must ply
till they in God's mercy die!
GloriLIE is the sty in my eye.
She makes me cry,
I know exactly why.

My tears are like God's rain
that's meant to swoosh the clog in the drain.
The ugly clog in the drain,
our nation's bane.
We've seen it wax, we'll see it wane.

God means to wipe away this stain!

Special thanks to my FaceBook friends Bong David, Sylvia Mayuga, and Jenifer C. Aquino-Xavier for their repartee inspiring Mila Aguilar in writing the wonderful piece regarding the clog in our nation's drain.

Related article:

• The Maguindanao Massacre & the Mafiosi Conspiracy that Gloria Arroyo Calls Friendship
• Lorelei Fajardo Sacked as Gloria Arroyo’s Comical Ali errrr Spokeswoman
  

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U.S. Citizen Melissa Roxas Abducted and Tortured by Suspected Philippine Military Agents to Speak Publicly in Los Angeles

U.N. Day in Support of Torture Victims Marked with Press Conference by Torture Survivor Melissa Roxas

What: Press Conference of Melissa Roxas, recent victim of abduction and torture

When: Saturday, June 27, 2009

Time: 4-5:30 PM

Where: Echo Park United Methodist Church
1226 N. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Live Web Stream: www.bayan.ph

LOS ANGELES, CA – In her first public appearance since being released from captivity, Melissa Roxas, a U.S. citizen abducted and tortured in the Philippines from May 19-25, will hold a press conference to describe the human rights abuses she endured while held for six days in an alleged military camp. Ms. Roxas, an American human rights advocate of Filipino descent, is the first known American citizen to have become a victim of abduction and torture in the Philippines, a country which has drawn international condemnation for state-sponsored human rights atrocities.

In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Philippine Supreme Court, Ms. Roxas described being abducted at gunpoint by several heavily armed men, brought to what she believed is a military camp, held against her will, questioned without the presence of an attorney, beaten repeatedly, and asphyxiated using plastic bags before being released. During the press conference, Ms. Roxas is expected to demand accountability from the Philippine government and military, who she holds responsible for her ordeal, as well as the U.S. government for providing funding and training to the Philippine military. Reports by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Philippine-based human rights organization Karapatan, and Human Rights Watch have overwhelmingly concluded that the Philippine military is responsible for systematically carrying out human rights violations such as abduction, torture and extra-judicial killings against innocent civilians. Nearly $1 billion worth of U.S. military aid and materiel has been granted to the Philippines since 1999, the year the U.S.- Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement was enacted.

The experience of Ms. Roxas is considered typical for the 200 cases of abduction and 1,010 cases of torture recorded since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president of the Philippines in 2001. The Philippine government’s quick denial of responsibility for Ms. Roxas’ abduction and torture is also considered a typical response; in his 2007 report on the Philippines, U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston cited such systematic denial by the government as one of the primary obstacles to stopping the rampant human rights violations plaguing the country. In his 2009 follow-up report, Alston indicated a general failure of the Arroyo government to stop the persistent human rights violations. In April 2009, the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) also released a report detailing the use of torture by the Philippine military.

At the press conference, Ms. Roxas’ legal counsel, Attorney Arnedo Valera, will explain the potential legal remedies that are being explored, including the filing of a tort action in U.S. Federal Court for punitive and compensatory damages against her identified assailants or the Arroyo government in the absence of named assailants; the lodging of a private complaint before the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Desk against the Philippine government for the violation of the fundamental rights of a U.S. citizen; and the filing of a complaints before the appropriate U.N. agencies for violations of the International Covenant Against Torture, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

The press conference will be held in Los Angeles, CA and broadcast live on the Bayan Philippine website. Media in the Philippines will be hosted simultaneously by Bayan Philippines and will be able to ask questions in real time. The U.S.-based press conference is sponsored by the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign, whose membership includes Ms. Roxas’ legal counsel, BAYAN-USA, GABRIELA USA, and the Katarungan Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns.

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On torture and extrajudicial justice

The off-on issue of torture, a.k.a. as enhanced interrogations, regarding captured terror suspects recently made the rounds of Internet forums obviously fanned in no small measure by a Reuters story that had our own Antonio Taguba, a retired major general of the U.S. armed forces credited for Abu Ghraib prison report, being quoted as saying that while the pictures about the alleged abuses in that Iraq prison "show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency," he also supported Obama's decision not to release them. "The mere depiction of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it," he added.

Taguba echoed President Obama's stand on the matter even though the latter, as he also had backtracked in some other controversial issues, had previously pledged to disclose all images relating those abuses and other U.S.-run prisons in Iraq. The pro-con discussions that ensued only highlight the touchy nature of the subject and perhaps would remain in that way indefinitely.

There were those who say that Taguba's description is useful in justifying why the pictures would be even more frightful and scare the public, to the embarrassment of U.S. soldiers. There was even one who suspected financial interests. On my part I was puzzled why Taguba had to describe the alleged abuses in graphic detail and then go on to say that he is not for releasing them because it would "imperil our troops." I thought that the way he described it, there's no more need for releasing the photos.

On a larger scale, the discussions verged on the subject of torture as it is used in some parts of the world. It is supposedly not the monopoly of extremists or torture organizations that may or may not be affiliated with government agencies "but a group of people dedicated to their cause and mission whether the employment of such acts is inhumane, barbaric or the other way around." One said that all countries, whether they are considered "terrorist" or dictatorial countries and even democratic countries employ some form of terroristic mechanics to get information from terrorists. In the case of the U.S., it was alleged that torture was first employed by American soldiers in 1905 during the Filipino-American war. Even today, it was said, torture is being used by the police enforcement in this country and several guilty verdicts had been overturned because of this fact.

Oddly, no one mentioned about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers and their Korean cohorts even to Filipino old folks and children during World War II. I asked to no one in particular that, considering that the U.S. is at war with a very cruel enemy "who is sawing off the victim's head without anesthesia," what should American soldiers do to also plant fear on the enemy. One responded that it seems "waterboarding" is far more effective and less torturous than cutting off fingers, cigaret burns, pulling off teeth or whipping. Myself, I thought that in the case of U.S. intelligence agencies, this torture thing was prompted by the need to immediately react in the aftermath of 911. The U.S. then was pushed to the wall trying to prevent anticipated wave of attacks and the need to recoup its intelligence capabilities badly weakened as a result of the downsizing in the past years. America might have felt so helpless at that time against vicious criminals who don't give a second thought about mindless, wanton killings and who are not afraid to die themselves because there are so many virgins waiting for them in heaven.

The Philippine scene

Recently, I circulated the story about Melissa Roxas, a 32 year-old Filipino-American activist based in Los Angeles, who was reportedly taken by at least eight fully-armed, bonnet-clad men in broad daylight while she was doing social work in a barrio in La Paz, Tarlac on May 19 together with two others, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc. She and Carabeo were released a week later and since then Roxas had made allegations that Philippine soldiers interrogated, tortured, and incarcerated her in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, prompting Lt. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), to direct Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, commander of the Army's 7th Infantry Division, to conduct a probe.

Unfortunately, Villanueva tainted the credibility of the proposed investigation by stating beforehand that "We have reason to believe that the alleged abduction was stage-managed to put the blame on our soldiers who are doing a good job of maintaining peace and order in Central Luzon." By such prejudgment, the intended investigation could be viewed as a moro-moro in progress.

In another instance, a discussion thread developed about a story of a Manila judge who issued judgment against two former mayors of a town in Masbate province in the killing of a school district supervisor over an election-related dispute in 2004. I responded that while the story is a welcome development, it is an exceptional one because of the fact that influential persons were convicted. But even that singular victory for justice would have been uncertain had not the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Manila.

Up there with acts of torture as worrisome topics are "extra judicial justice" or "political killings" and searches in either Yahoo or Google will lead one to entries that mostly pertain to the Philippines.

On April 6, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, was quoted by GMA News saying:

Non-government organizations have recorded at least 992 cases of extra-judicial killings, and another 193 cases of disappearance since 2001 when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed the presidency.

The international human rights watchdog had renewed its call for the Arroyo administration to stop paying lip service to addressing cases of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines. Roth said that the administration has still failed to establish accountability for the crimes because military personnel accused in the killings remain scot-free.

"The government has not yet prosecuted a single soldier for extra-judicial killings. And until it establishes accountability for those crimes, it risks a recurrence down the road. What's needed now is to end impunity by bringing the military under the rule of law and show that these kinds of killings will not be tolerated," he said.

According to Amnesty International, in 2006, following international pressure, GMA established the Task Force Usig (TFU) to investigate political killings. A special Commission of Inquiry known as the Melo Commission, whose mandate ended in June 2007, was also established to make policy recommendations on extrajudicial executions.

As of January 2008, the TFU had investigated 141 cases and filed 80 cases for criminal proceedings. However, because the investigations are inadequate, few cases result in convictions. The TFU and the Melo Commission have had limited success in ensuring justice for survivors and families of victims. Families often cite flaws in the justice process, such as delayed investigations, inadequate crime scene analysis leading to a lack of forensic evidence, and unwillingness to interview suspected military and police personnel. To date, most of those responsible for the killings of leftist political figures or activists have not been brought to justice.

Witnesses in cases under investigation by the authorities are particularly vulnerable to intimidation and reprisals, and sometimes even death. Many have complained repeatedly about the failure of the police to provide protection for them and their families, and said they have lost confidence in the ability of the Department of Justice to provide protection."

Philippine human rights group Karapatan has recorded 16 killings during the first three months of this year, it is said. Roth, a former US prosecutor, said that the worsening human rights abuse in the Philippines is "very unusual" for a country supposedly under a "vibrant democracy." He said, "It's hard to find such situation in other Asian democracies. There wouldn't be another Asian democracy like that. You should go as far as Sri Lanka to find a parallel. But in East Asia or Southeast Asia, none at all."

*********************************************************************************

Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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Searching for Nilo Arado & Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado

What would you do if you were Smart, Rich and Beautiful? You could have anything you want, be anything you want. If you had everything, would you give it all up just so you could stand up for what you believe in?

The Martial Law era was an awful time to live. You never knew what would happen to you and everyone else you know. Anyone could die at any given moment. The masses went hungry. The rich prospered, just as long as you were on the right list.
Someone needed to take a stand to end such atrocities. That someone needs to be bold, courageous and willing to give up everything, even their lives, for the sake of everyone else. There were a lot of people who took this stand. These were normal people who risked their lives because they have had just about enough of being tricked by some mad man posing as the president. These were people who wanted peace and justice for everyone. And one of these people was my mother.

In the stories they told me as a child my mother joined the cause through the persuasions of her brothers. She was still schooling at the time at USA where she got kicked out for her “extra- curricular activities”. I heard stories as a child about her escaping prison four times, about her dodging flanks of soldiers in the mountains, dodging bullets here and there. These captivated me, and I’ve always thought of my mom as somewhat of a hero.

My sister was born during these stories they told me were being played out. Heck, during her birth there were soldiers chasing after our mom. But I, you see, was born 7 years after the martial law. The country was almost back to normal. And I never got to witness what my mother did let alone grasp the concepts and the meanings of what she did.

As a kid she’d take me to her many offices. I never understood any of what they talked about, but I knew it’ll help lots of people in some off town or baranggay or something. She’d take me to lots of rallies and other places where they’d implement their projects. Not somewhere you’d usually take a kid to.

As a kid I have always understood what she and my father did. They’d always explain it to me and my sister but I’d never listen anyways. I have always known. And that’s why I never asked them to stop what they do. Even as I experience complications in my life and wishing that someday it would be normal, I still won’t ask her to stop. Because what they do is beautiful. The most beautiful thing any person could do. Self-sacrifice.

Now back to that last question. If you had everything, would you give it all up just so you could stand up for what you believe in? Well, my mom did. I could never have done what she did. I’m too much of a coward. But she, she has all the courage in the family. And she was my mom. And I had to share her with everyone else. But I never mind. Everyone else needed her.

But now, I am scared to think what would happen to those people who needed her help. The people who need her voice to speak out their pleas to those who should’ve heard them in the first place. Who would have the courage like her to give up their everything?

By: Tamara Posa Dominado

I love talking and hearing stories about Nanay. She has such an exciting life full of adventures that seem to come straight out of a fiction novel. The time she escaped through the roof of their stockade cell, repeating the same feat a few years later with a different set of cellmates. The time she gave birth while a platoon of soldiers were looking for her and even burned the paltera's hair. The time she escaped, was caught, gave a false name and had to deny her own grandmother. But when I think of her, I usually remember boring stuff, times we spent talking and eating, watching movies, doing something together, memories that would mean nothing to anyone besides me. Before listening to what my sister has written, please allow me to share some of these memories, so that you may have an idea how she is as a Nanay and how much we miss her.

Nanay is a teacher. Besides her Education degree, she has sufficient training with my cousins who visited her makeshift day care center in jail. When one of my cousins failed a subject in high school, she marched to the teacher and scolded her, saying that the red number was not a bad mark upon the student but speaks instead of the teacher's inadequacy. When I myself get into trouble in school or get a failing grade, I had to hold her back and give her a stern lecture about how she should trust me to handle my own problems. Although of course, the first word I scream when in pain is her name.

My mother is not a skilled cook. All I remember of her culinary repertoire is burnt rice and one perfect lunch a long long time ago when she fried the chicken very well. But maybe I learned from her all the practical knowledge I really do need. She did taught me about the solar system, first aid, bank transactions, grocery shopping and marketing tips, water conservation, how to clean the sewers without dirtying your hands, how to collect candle wax in a ball and use it to polish the floor of the jail cell, how to mend a broken friendship with pinipig ice cream, how to crochet, how to wrap your hair with a towel so it won't fall off your head, how to be stubborn and righteous, how to know your self-worth and not seek the constant approval of others...the list is endless.

In high school, my classmates refused to represent our section at the Lakan at Lakambini ng Hayskul contest. When asked, I said that I would be willing to "sacrifice my dignity" if my parents would allow me. Of course, I was confident that I already know their decision. And indeed, Nanay did not only refuse to give her permission, she also had the audacity to suggest to our class president the criteria of the ideal but non-existent contest she would have me join instead, a list that did not include beauty but only intelligence and hardwork. With that in mind, I sometimes could not help but think that my own mother thinks I look horrendous. She has jokingly told me and my sister that it's too bad one of her daughters is ugly, but she would not tell us which one.

When I was an only child and a brat spoiled by affluent relatives, my mother scolded me each and every day, or so I feel, due to my snobbish behavior and extravagant habits. She told me how people worked hard for each grain of rice I put in my mouth or negligently scatter on the floor or the table. Being unused to life in jail and to daily chores and to not doing everything one wants, I got mad at her for being mad at me. She then explained to me that people only scold those that they love and care for because they want their loved ones to be better persons and have better lives etc. etc. Now, years later, remembering this, I am entirely secure in the knowledge that I am the person that Nanay loves most in the whole wide world.

In my entire life, I only know of 3 occasions when Nanay was reduced to tears. The first one was when a dangerous fire was raging a few houses away from ours and my sister who was a toddler at that time was left at our house in the care of her yaya. Nanay was crying with abandon in the jeepney and she ran the couple of blocks home. Then there was the time when I took my sister for a walk around our grandparents' subdivision and Nanay had no idea where we were for several hours. She gave us an earful in Lola's bathroom and we were shocked when she suddenly sat on the toilet seat and burst into tears. The other time was when she lost our last baby sister or brother when Tamara was 3 years old. I cannot imagine how she cried when she miscarried the other 4 times before that.

Nanay was a mother not only to me and Tamara but also to my cousins and to all the people she has sheltered. Our home, our lives are filled with people who have felt abandoned and neglected, people suffering from nervous breakdown, youths who have run away from home, women who have been raped or beaten or probably both, pregnant women approaching single motherhood and even just imperfect people who seem to irritate everybody else. I admit that I sometimes question why it has to be my Nanay who needs to help everyone with their problems all of the time. But one time, she was telling me about a girl who has run away from home and was staying at our house, had a fight with her boyfriend outside the gate in full view and within hearing distance of all the neighbors, threatened to cut her hair and scared my aunt who thought she was trying to kill herself with the scissors. Nanay said that she only pitied the girl and wanted to hug her because all the girl really needed was a mother. When she told me this, I thought how lucky the world is to have this woman who wants to help those who need it most. And lately I've been thinking how lucky I am to have the best Nanay in the whole world simply because she's mine.

It's been 2 years since Nanay was abducted and several times I have been sorely tempted to write down all these wonderful and not so wonderful memories with her, to list down all the movies we've seen together, to fill in pages of everything she has ever said to me, to us, every little thing, lest I forget any of it. But writing it all down gives it such permanence and carries a sense of finality. It seems to manifest my fear that no more memories could be made, that we would never see her again, that I have given up hope...

However, I am hoping that in sharing this with you might make you see your own mother clearly, all the small and seemingly insignificant things she does for you that you might not appreciate much now but would attain a degree of significance only when she is no longer there.

By: May Wan Posa Dominado

Related Articles:

• Tamara Michelle Posa Dominado's letter to Desapare Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado
• Update on Luisa Dominado, Nilo Arado & JJ Burgos
• Tamara Dominado's Statement on the 100th day of abduction
• Where is Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado & Nilo Arado?
• Jonas Joseph “Jay Jay” Burgos son of late Freedom Fighter Jose Burgos, Jr. Missing

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Mrs. B: A sit down dinner for the benefit of the families of the Desaparecidos

The Concerned Artist of the Philippines (CAP) will stage an event entitled Mrs. B on Saturday, April 18, 2009, 6-8 pm at Ten02 Bar (Sct. Ybardolaza cor. Timog Avenue, Q.C.). Pinky Amador will play the role of Mrs. Edith Burgos, who, up to this day, is still searching for her missing son, activist Jonas Burgos.

This also serves as a commemoration of the second year of Jonas' abduction. He was taken by a group of four unidentified men and a woman while eating inside a mall in Quezon City, April 28, 2007. To date, not a trace of Jonas was found.

Jonas was tagged by the military as a member of the New People's Army. The son of the late press freedom icon Jose Burgos, Jr, who, in his time, fought against the repressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Jonas chose a seemingly different yet closely related path. He continued his father's legacy of serving the country through teaching organic farming to farmers. Jonas is a member of Alyansang Magbubukid ng Bulacan.

On a personal note, meeting - and living - with the Burgoses only strengthened my belief that Jonas' disappearance is one of the most heinous crimes ever committed by the Arroyo administration. Tita Edith's kindness and warmth for me and my upcoming baby only heightened my admiration for her. I couldn't have imagined a woman of great kindness like Mrs. Burgos suffer the perverse and twisted reality of having your son abducted, disappearing without a trace. No one deserves this torture, not Tita Edith, or any of the mothers and fathers of the victims of this evil regime.

I do hope we can all come to Ten02 for this event. But more so, I hope that Jonas be found, and justice be served.

By: Angelica Carballo

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