April 8, 2008
By Rebecca C. Asedillo

WASHINGTON – "Sometimes I wonder if he has a blanket or a pillow, or if he is being fed," said Edith Burgos, her calm voice belying the anguish that only a mother whose son is missing could know.

"I wonder if he is being tortured right now even as I speak."

Burgos, widow of maverick Filipino journalist Jose Burgos, continued: "I feel like the widow before the unjust judge (Luke 18). She persisted until she received justice. I speak out to keep the issue alive."

An educator and a consultant on biotechnology, Burgos spoke during Ecumenical Advocacy Days held March 7-10 in Washington. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries supports this yearly event and participates in the Asia Pacific Forum of Church World Service.

Searching for a son

Burgos' son, Jonas, 38, was abducted from a busy mall in Manila on April 28, 2007, by four armed men and a woman. Manager of his family's organic farm, Jonas had provided technical training in organic farming to farmers affiliated with the Philippine Peasant Movement. He also taught farmers about their rights and was critical of the Philippine government, which has labeled the peasant group as a front organization of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Burgos said those who are critical of the government are often tagged as communists or terrorists.

Almost a year after the abduction and despite wide media publicity and appeals to various Philippine government bodies, Burgos is still trying to find her son. In the meantime, a police officer who helped the family trace the van into which Jonas was dragged has been relieved from his post. Also, Burgos and her daughter Virginia Ann quit their jobs for their own safety when they determined they were being followed.

Despite the risks, Burgos is on a mission to speak out not only for her Jonas, but for the many Jonases in the Philippines who have no one to speak for them. "When people are silent, when nobody talks, the victims are forgotten," she said.

Human rights violations

"Enforced disappearance is the worst kind of human rights violation," said Burgos, "because its effects are far reaching ... not only on the abducted who is taken out of the protection of the law and is thus vulnerable to the most inhuman treatment, but also on the relatives and friends of the abducted who must suffer the agony of uncertainty about the fate suffered by the loved one."

The 2007 U.S. State Department report on the Philippines human rights practices states: "At year's end the domestic NGO Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) documented 35 victims of involuntary disappearance: five were found alive, two were found dead, and 28 remained missing. FIND suspected government forces in the majority of these cases, while unidentified armed men were suspected in the remaining cases. ... No arrests had been made at year's end."

In recent years, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries has voiced its concern over the deterioration of human rights in the Philippines. On Dec. 5, 2007, Bishop Felton E. May, interim chief executive of the church mission agency, appealed to the U.S. Congress to limit the amount of military aid to the Philippines and attach human rights conditions to the entire aid package.

Also in 2007, United Methodist Bishop Solito Toquero of the church's Manila Area came to Washington with a delegation from the Philippines to air their concerns and lobby against U.S. military aid to the Philippines.

While such aid was not decreased, the appropriations bill attached conditions to the release of a portion of the aid on certification by the U.S. State Department that the Philippine government is adhering to certain recommendations by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. These recommendations include the investigation and prosecution of military personnel "who have been credibly alleged to have committed extrajudicial executions or other violations of human rights."

Power of prayer

As she speaks to groups from coast to coast in the United States, Burgos sometimes feels like she is on an emotional pendulum. "On the one hand, I feel I am in God's hand; on the other, I sometimes feel helpless," she said.

A lay member of the Roman Catholic Order of Carmelites, Burgos fervently believes in the power of prayer. "Only prayer can bring Jonas home," she said.

She also believes that speaking out has a multiplier effect. "If you speak out for us," she told concerned members of the church, "that will have a big impact on the Philippine government. It could stop the killings and stop the disappearances."

United Methodist News Service
Rebecca C. Asedillo is the Asia/Pacific church relationships director, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.