While the drug-related killings have overshadowed enforced disappearances, there are reports of the rise of the number of EJK victims who were first abducted and disappeared before their bodies were found.
“An order by the [Supreme] Court for the military to produce Jonas was not complied with and to this day, nobody has been cited in contempt.”
President Duterte’s fellow Mindanawons – the Moro and Lumad – are among the many recently disappeared.
“We call on him to tell us where Jonas is.”
For more than 10 years, the Burgos family has been searching for Jonas Burgos. Bulatlat has chronicled the painstaking journey of fighting for justice.
“We will still find Jonas.” — Edita Burgos
Two Lumad, a Moro child and a peasant woman went missing in the past year.
Victims of drug-related killings and other human rights violations came together in a tearful gathering.
“Until we see their bones in a grave, or we see them in prison, we will not stop searching.”
“What has happened to our loved ones? Are they being treated well? Are they being fed? Are they still alive? Have they been killed?”
Jonas’s brother Jose Luis or JL Burgos was supposed to testify in court as the fifth prosecution witness. Earlier, however, the defense objected to JL Burgos taking the witness stand.