What you need to know

about enforced
disappearances in the
Philippines
According to latest data, there are at least 1,996 documented cases of
enforced disappearance in the Philippines – 1,165 are missing while
244 were found dead

Jodesz Gavilan
@jodeszgavilan

Published 4:00 PM, August 29, 2018

Updated 2:08 PM, August 30, 2018

MANILA, Philippines – August 30 marks the International Day of the

Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

The Philippines has a long history of issues related to human right

violations. Many reported cases of enforced and involuntary
disappearances have been recorded from the Marcos regime to the
current administration of Rodrigo Duterte.

In 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the Anti-

Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act which makes the crime
punishable by life imprisonment.

What’s in this law and how useful is it? Rappler answers some vital
questions.
What constitutes enforced or involuntary
disappearance?

An enforced or involuntary disappearance has 3 elements, according

to Republic Act 10353:

1. A person is deprived of liberty via an arrest, detention, or

abduction

2. The perpetrators are state agents or working with the

“authorization, support, or acquiescence” of the state

3. There is a conscious effort to conceal the location of the

disappeared person

Not giving the information regarding the whereabouts of an abducted

person leads to him or her “virtually non-existing.” This puts the
person outside the protection of the law.

Under RA 10353, the penalty of reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment

shall be imposed on:

 People who directly committed the act

 People who “directly forced, instigated, encouraged, or

induced” others to commit the act

 People who cooperated in the act by means of other actions

 Officials who allowed the act even if it is within their power

to stop it from happening

 People who “cooperated in the execution” of the act

How important is the law?

The law passed in 2012 is the first of its kind in Asia. It sees enforced
disappearance “as a special or separate offense” from kidnapping,
serious illegal detention, and/or murder, according to Nilda Sevilla, co-
chairperson of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance
(FIND).

“It’s not only an ordinary crime but also a human rights violation,” she
told Rappler.

A key provision of the law, aside from the life imprisonment part, is
that it explicitly states that it is a person who has information on a
case of enforced or involuntary disappearance to report in writing the
whereabouts of the victim.

It also ensures the absolute right of any person deprived of liberty “to
have immediate access to any form of communication available in
order for him or her to inform his or her family, relative, friend, lawyer
or any human rights organization on his or her whereabouts and
condition.”

The law’s passage was also the culmination of 16 years of lobbying by

families of victims.

“There was hope that when the law was passed, all other families will
no longer suffer the same harrowing experience we had, the same pain
and anxiety that we endured,” Sevilla said.

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“So hindi na nga maibalik ang disappeared (Even if you cannot bring

back the disappeared), at least we can prevent other families from
becoming victims of enforced disappearance,” she added.

What is the situation in the Philippines now?

According to latest data from FIND, there are at least 1,996

documented cases of enforced disappearance in the Philippines since
the administration of Ferdinand Marcos.

Out of this number, 1,165 are still missing while 587 surfaced alive and
244 were found dead.

The Marcos dictatorship recorded the most number of victims with

926, followed by Corazon Aquino with 540, and Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo with 336.

In the more than two years of the Duterte presidency, FIND has
documented 23 victims.

The number of reported victims, however, is much higher than the

documented – with a total of 2,334 across the 7 administrations.
According to Sevilla, the repressive regime and the climate of fear
hinder families from reporting and becoming witnesses to enforced
disappearances.

“Nahirapan talaga (They're having a hard time) because the family

members, as well as witnesses, they are afraid to speak up, to testify,
or to identify the abductors because of the climate of fear,” she said.

The victims are usually political activists, farmers, members of labor

unions, and students. Just recently, FIND noticed that the list of
victims under the Duterte administration now includes victims with no
affilitations but who come from the poorest communities.

MASKED PROTESTERS. Protesters wearing Jonas Burgos masks gather at the gate
of Camp Aguinaldo to commemorate the anniversary of his disappearance. Photo by
Desaparecidos
What are the roadblocks in seeking justice and
preventing these disappearances from
happening?

For Sevilla, the number one roadblock in the full implementation of the
Anti-Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance Law is the lack of
common understanding of the concept of human rights. (READ: Poor
law implementation denies desaparecidos justice)

“Even among the implementors, they're not even conscious na the law
is a human rights legislation,” she said. “How can you really bring the
perpetrators to court kung sa first stage pa lang, sasabihin na nila na
walang probable cause kasi hindi nila alam kung ano ba ang nuances
or character or nature ng enforced disappearance?”

(How can you really bring the perpetrators to the court if in the first
stage, they will immediately say there’s no probable cause just
because they are not aware of the nuances or character or nature
of an enforced disappearance?)

The funding for implementation is also a problem. Under the law,

various agencies, including the Commission on Human Rights and the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, can assist victims in
the form of psychosocial support.

The carrying out of these, however, continues to be a challenge due to

budget issues.

Sevilla hopes that if all of these are addressed, we will see a declining
number of victims.

“Kung na-implement iyan, malaking matutulong talaga niyan to

prevent disappearances in the future (If these are implemented, it can
really help to prevent disappearances in the future),” she said. –
Rappler.com