Activists picket military camp to search for ‘desaparecidos’

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — At least 50 protesters, led by activists, families, and friends of four “desaparecidos” (victims of enforced disappearances), picketed the gates of the military’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) headquarters in Tarlac City on Wednesday as they continue to search for their colleagues and kin.

The group demanded that Nolcom — a unified command of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Air Force in the Ilocos, Cagayan, Cordillera, and Central Luzon regions — present four people who were abducted during the first two years of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Several fire trucks were seen parked near Nolcom’s main gate in an apparent attempt to prevent the protesters from entering the military camp.

Katrina Ortiz carried photos of her brother Norman, 25, and his friend Lee Sudario during the protest that began around 2 p.m.

According to the human rights group Karapatan, the two men went missing in Gabaldon town, Nueva Ecija province, on Sept. 29.

While the two men were known to be organizers of farmers, information citing the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency identified them as members of the New People’s Army.

“None of us can celebrate the holiday season as anxiety and fear for the life, liberty and security of our brother eat us like a sumptuous noche buena on Christmas and New Year’s Eve,” Katrina, head of the Surface Norman and Lee Network, said in a statement.

Arrest warrants

In a phone interview, Lt. Col. Rodrigo Lutao Jr., Nolcom public information officer, said Nolcom or the Army’s 91st Infantry Battalion in Aurora province has “no custody” of Ortiz and Sudario.

“We would have turned them over to the police [if we had them],” said Lutao, referring to arrest warrants—five on Sudario and one on Ortiz—issued by a court in Aurora.

Relatives of Ma. Elena “Cha” Pampoza and Elgene “Leleng” Mungcal also brought photos of their relatives as they assembled in front of the Nolcom headquarters.

Pamposa and Mungcal, members of Anakpawis and Gabriela party-list groups, were last seen in Moncada town in Tarlac province sometime in October 2022.

Farmers’ organizer Ignacio Ortiz was taken away on Dec. 1, 2022.

“All victims are either peasant leaders, peasant organizers, or anti-reclamation and fisherfolk advocates,” Karapatan said in a statement.

It added: “These [abductions] underline the heightened attacks on peasant organizations and the worsening conditions of the peasant communities facing land and feudal relations struggle.