MANILA – Desaparecidos, an organization of family and friends of victims of enforced disappearances, calls on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the unwarranted military visits to Nica Ortiz, sister of disappeared peasant organizer Norman Ortiz, April 21.

Earlier this year, January 2025, two military officers who claimed to be with the 84th Infantry Battalion, visited their home in Licab, Nueva Ecija. They offered socio-economic relief but her relatives refused, as confirmed in a previous interview with Bulatlat.

“In our barangay, some officers from the military were asking personal details about me in the community. They were asking where I study, what other names do I use,” Nica said, recalling that similar incidents of military visits also happened between May 2024 to November 2024.

Read: Women brave the frontlines to find the disappeared

Nica has been leading the search for her disappeared brother Norman and his friend Lee Sudario. They were both reportedly abducted in the wee hours of September 29, 2023 by more than 10 uniformed and armed men, forcibly pushing them to enter a van as they were leaving Barangay Bantug, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija.

“Norman and Nica are not the first members of the Ortiz family to fall victim to human rights violations. In 2022, an uncle of theirs who was formerly a leader of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luzon-Nueva Ecija was abducted and forced to clear his name,” Desaparecidos said. “Despite doing so, however, their uncle continued to suffer harassment in the hands of the police.”

Nica is still a student of Wesleyan University-Philippines in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. However, this does not stop her in pursuing justice. Desaparecidos said that she has been an active member since her brother’s disappearance and a frequent speaker during protests and forums on human rights violations.

The Wesleyan Supreme Student Council also expressed solidarity with Nica. “We denounce any form of intimidation against student voices. Hands off our students! We believe in the right to speak, to act, and to stand for a just and humane society,” they wrote in a statement.

Nica, together with human rights group Karapatan, went to the Commission on Human Rights on October 11, 2024 to request assistance in locating her missing brother and in investigating the abduction.

Read: Surface our brothers – kin of missing activists

She joined the fact-finding and search missions to the military camps of the 7th Infantry Division, the 703rd Infantry Brigade, the 84th Infantry Battalion in October 2023, and submitted an inquiry form. But the military camps did not confirm nor deny the whereabouts of Norman and Lee.

The inquiry form is a protocol under the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act (Republic Act No. 10353). Section 8 of the law states that if a concerned party inquires about a missing person, officials from relevant agencies must immediately issue a written certification stating the person’s presence or absence, any available information on their whereabouts, and details of the inquiry and response.

There were also instances when they attempted to report to the local government offices. According to Nica, they went to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Gabaldon only to be rejected, despite being the last place of the whereabouts of Norman and Lee. “They told us that we have to report to the office in our hometown. So we went to PNP Licab.”

“My resolve remains firm. We will continue the search despite the harassment we have been facing,” Nica said in Filipino.

Central Luzon remains a hotbed of enforced disappearances under the Marcos Jr administration. In the 15 cases of enforced disappearance, both Central Luzon and Negros accounted for four victims each. (RTS, DAA)