Thousands of disappearance cases unsolved, says group

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—For nearly 24 years, Grace Topacio hung on to the image of a jolly Renato to keep her husband’s memory alive.

Grace said she has not given up the search for Renato, who was abducted in 1988 and is listed as one of 1,837 documented victims of enforced disappearances from November 1985 to April 2012, according to the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND).

FIND released a report in time for the International Week of the Disappeared from May 26 to June 2.

“I always bring it with me,” Topacio, 48, said of a black-and-white photograph of Renato.

Taken in 1986 when Renato was 33 years old, the picture was affixed to his safe conduct pass when he served as aide to former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who was a panel member of the National Democratic Front in peace talks with government.

FIND said at least 878 disappearance cases took place during martial law.

It said 614 cases were under the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino, 94 under former President Fidel Ramos, 58 under former President and pardoned plunder convict Joseph Estrada, 182 under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 11 under President Aquino.

Of the 1,837 missing people, 435 have surfaced alive and 256 have been found dead. At least 91 percent of the victims are male. Most of the missing are farmers, workers and youths.

Many disappearances occurred in Western Visayas (327), Western Mindanao (198), Southern Mindanao (192), National Capital Region (180), Central Luzon (177) and Northern Mindanao (143).

FIND said suspects in 1,091 of the cases were members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The defunct Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police was suspected in 239 cases and the Marcos-era militia Integrated Civilian Home Defense Force was believed involved in 155 cases.

According to FIND, the number of disappearance cases was seen to increase along with government campaigns against communist insurgents.

No disappearance case has been filed since it is not yet regarded as a crime. Kidnapping cases are instead filed. This makes it difficult for Topacio and relatives of the disappeared to seek justice. To push their cause, they worked with FIND.

Topacio, who heads FIND’s organizing and education program, said Renato lived a meaningful life. When he was abducted from a beach house in Dagupan City on June 20, 1988, Renato, a native of Nueva Ecija, was organizing farmers in Central Luzon for agrarian reform.

Legislative work to bring justice to the disappeared offers hope. Measures seeking to criminalize enforced disappearances—House Bill No. 98 and Senate Bill No. 2817—have passed third and final reading and are awaiting bicameral action.

FIND said HB 98, sponsored by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, adopts the United Nations’ definition of enforced disappearances which makes state agents culpable.

The bill also holds commanding officers or superiors criminally liable for enforced disappearances, provides restitution and compensation to victims and next-of-kin, and mandates the speedy disposition and enforcement of court orders and rulings.

What is hard to heal, Topacio said, is the pain that families, especially children, endure due to the long wait for answers on what happened to their loved ones.