The sheer number of Filipinos who have disappeared over the past decades is mind-boggling. Tens of thousands of ordinary citizens have been picked up because of their political beliefs, never to be seen again.

It does not take a genius to guess what has happened to most of them, these sometimes nameless, faceless people who are known as the desaparecidos. The Disappeared Ones paid the price for being part of either the extreme left or the extreme right, although in many cases they did not belong to either camp.

Jonas Burgos is a classic case of a young activist-turned-desaparecido. Burgos, a grandson of the late journalist Joe Burgos, was known to have been picked up inside a Metro Manila mall by a group of men using a vehicle that has been traced to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Government probes and investigations have concluded as much. Despite so much evidence pointing to the disappearance of Jonas as a sanctioned kidnapping by the military, no one has ever been charged for the crime. The Burgos family, specifically Jonas’s mother, has never stopped trying to force the government to reveal the truth about what happened to this most promising young man.

The difference between Burgos and the tens of thousands of others is that he comes from a prominent family. Not rich, by any means, but from a respectable family of media practitioners. Given his family background, no one was surprised that Jonas became an activist. What is surprising is that for all intents, the military has gotten away with a clear case of kidnapping, and probably worse.

This is not to say that the underground communist movement has not done its share in grabbing men and women whom they suspect to be spies, moles or outright agents of the government who have infiltrated their ranks.

Without even the benefit of a kangaroo court, bodies of these desaparecidos have been found in mass graves. Their families never knew what happened to them, and they are still listed as missing rather than dead unless and until their identities are established beyond reasonable doubt.

Down south, secessionist rebels have likewise been known to resort to kidnap-for-ransom to raise funds, and if their victims are unable to produce the demanded amounts, also end up as a statistic of Filipinos who disappeared without a trace.

Comes now the Enforced Disappearances Act of 2012. The act was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino 3rd a few days ago and has been referred to as “the first of its kind in Asia and a major milestone in ending human rights violation,” according to the New York City-based human rights group Human Rights Watch.

The law is sure to open old wounds. The families of the tens of thousands of missing Filipinos are reminded of the unthinkable crime perpetrated by extremists — in and out of government — against them. But at least now they have hope, and possibly closure.

The overwhelming majority of the desaparecidos will never be found alive, but human rights organizations can at least help determine the fates that befell them.
 
Tragic history
Desaparecidos first became known during the Marcos dictatorship when the military was king. The regime had been on a communist witch-hunt throughout its existence, and the first disappearances were of left-leaning activists and suspected communist sympathizers.

Under a democracy, every person is entitled to his or her political beliefs. Unfortunately, the Philippines under dictator Ferdinand Marcos was no democracy. Families of victims could do little to force the government to produce their missing relatives.

The kidnappings should have stopped with the advent of a democratic government under President Cory Aquino, but they did not. Although their numbers were lessened, there were still frequently reported cases of ordinary citizens being picked up and disappearing into some black hole where they could not return to the normal world.

From the Aquino to the Ramos to the Estrada to the Arroyo and now the second Aquino administrations, the incidents continued. Entire generations of mostly young Filipinos would be taken, and very likely killed, then their bodies disposed of where finding them would be next to impossible.

There was even a spike in the disappearances during the previous administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Under the incumbent president, however, a law was finally passed that should at least lessen the disappearances. Under a best-case scenario, enforced disappearances could become a thing of the past.

We can only hope that the Anti-Enforced Disappearances Act of 2012 will not be a paper tiger.

It will bring back the nightmares of the past for countless families of permanently missing men and women. But while the new law will certainly unearth dark memories, it will also allow secrets to be exposed in the light of day.

It is not just their families, but the desaparecidos themselves who cry out for justice. With the new law, the ends of justice may finally be served.