Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan. (File photo from the Agence France-Presse)
MANILA, Philippines — Human rights group Karapatan urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday to help find “desaparecidos” — that is, people who went missing during his term.
Karapatan made the appeal to commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
“From the era of Marcos Sr. in the ’70s and ’80s to the current administration under Marcos Jr., enforced disappearances have been a tool used to instill fear and silence critics,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
There are eight desaparecidos during the Marcos administration so far, Palabay said.
Specifically, Karapatan was referring to missing activists Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus and Dexter Capuyan, who were allegedly abducted by state forces. They have been reported missing since April.
According to Palabay, more than 1,000 people disappeared during the term during the term of the current president’s father, then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and 821 during the term of President Cory Aquino.
“Enforced disappearances are not just numbers; they represent lives lost, families torn apart, and communities living in fear,” Palabay said.