Justice for Jonas Burgos and family
It is the agony the family of Jonas Burgos continues to endure: The fate and whereabouts of this young man remain unknown despite the tireless search and determined efforts of his mother, Edita T. Burgos, to locate him. Jonas was abducted on May 28, 2007, in a Quezon City mall reportedly by military men.
When will their quest for truth and justice end? For how long will the Burgos family suffer? Are their sacrifices not enough? Can’t government people, especially those in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, feel the pain Jonas’ family has undergone since his enforced disappearance?
It may be recalled that Jonas’ father, press freedom icon Jose “Joe” G. Burgos, was arrested and detained on Dec. 7, 1982—along with his paper’s staff members and columnists—when the military raided and padlocked the office of the pioneering and crusading We Forum, the forerunner of Ang Pahayagang Malaya, a midday paper and Sunday magazine. While Joe was in prison, it was his wife Edita who single-handedly looked after their children, including Jonas who was in primary school at that time.
I remember Jonas, who most resembles his father in looks (I hate to use the past tense “resembled” as I fervently hope and pray that this young progressive agriculturist is still alive), together with his siblings, helping in some minor work related to the abovementioned publications.
Jonas, a boy scout, was a jolly child. Once, in a simple gathering—I think it was a Christmas get-together—the Burgos children performed a dance number, much to the delight of the newspapers’ employees and some guests. In the skit presented on that same occasion, Jonas, with an artificial mustache and beard, similar to those of Joe, played the role of his father as “publisher and editor.” The audience wildly applauded the show.
When Jonas finished his schooling and became a concerned agriculturist, he shared with farmers in Bulacan—specifically Barangay Tartaro in San Miguel town where “The Farm” of his father Joe is located—his knowledge and skills in modern farming. (Why do I know and remember these things? I used to work with Joe and his wife Edita in their publications during the dark years of martial law and for several years after the People Power Revolution. We were also neighbors in Tandang Sora, Quezon City).
So, I was shocked and angered when news broke out that Jonas was abducted. Why must such a young man dedicating his talents, time and efforts in helping farmers suffer a fate like those that befell many progressives and activists during the martial law regime? He does not deserve to suffer such fate. Needless to say, the judiciary, legislature and the executive should join hands so that the Jonas case will come to a just and rightful, although long-overdue, conclusion.
—EUSEBIO S. SAN DIEGO,
founder, Kaguro, and former president,
Quezon City Public School
Teachers Association,
