Finding Jonas

Ten years is virtual eternity, but Jonas Burgos’ family and friends still look for him, and still demand from the military that it produce him or state clearly what has happened to him. They do not think it is an unreasonable request. They try to comfort themselves with prayer and hope.

An agriculturist and peasant organizer, Jonas was 37 when he was abducted on April 28, 2007. He had just conducted training for farmers in San Miguel, Bulacan. According to witnesses at the Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City, he was taken by several men and a woman and dragged to a waiting maroon-colored van, a sack pulled over his head.

Since then Jonas’ mother Edita Burgos has been waging a tireless campaign to find him. He has not been seen again, and has joined the unfortunate ranks of the desaparecidos.

But Jonas’ trail is not completely unknown. A security guard had noted down the plate number of the van that took him to parts unknown, and subsequent investigation traced the vehicle to the Armed Forces’ 56th Infantry Battalion in Bulacan. Edita Burgos has since pleaded with the military for years for any word on her missing son. In 2011, left with no recourse, she filed criminal charges against military officials including then Army Intelligence head Col. Eduardo Año; Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr., whom witnesses identified as among those who abducted Jonas; Lt. Col. Melquiades Feliciano, then commander of the 56th Infantry Battalion; and several John and Jane Does. Ultimately, only Baliaga would be haled before the court. He remains on trial for arbitrary detention.

The Commission on Human Rights and the Court of Appeals have since held the military responsible for Jonas’ disappearance, and named Baliaga as the individual behind it. The Supreme Court has since ordered the military to produce Jonas.

To no avail. “The family has not left any stone unturned … taking legal steps, pursuing all available avenues, both private and government,” Jonas’ mother wrote in a 2015 open letter to then President Benigno Aquino III.

The efforts of finding Jonas have taken a toll on his family. The costs of the continuing search have raced into the millions, drying up the family’s savings, his mother’s retirement benefits, as well as the death and retirement benefits of his father, the press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr. But the loss of Jonas is greater still: “The impact of the loss of my son is unquantifiable. You cannot put a price on the broken heart, the broken family, the loss of a son,” his mother said.

Two administrations have come and gone, another has begun, and Jonas is still missing. “I have appealed to President Aquino and he said he would go by the evidence but he didn’t do anything. I was hopeful that when the 2013 Supreme Court order came out that, as commander in chief, he would order the military or at least explain to me the truth of what really happened, but there was no action,” Edita Burgos said. She said she had intended to write President Duterte and was guardedly optimistic that he would help uncover the truth.

But in December, Año, who was among those implicated in Jonas’ disappearance, was appointed chief of staff of the Armed Forces.

The 10th anniversary of Jonas’ disappearance last Friday was marked with 11 ecumenical Masses and protest rallies all over the country. “What kind of justice system do we have?” said his brother Luis. “It’s very hard to go against the military institution even if [it’s] in the wrong. It’s hard not knowing what happened. We want them to produce him in whatever state he’s in. We have no choice but to continue to hope.”

Another Mother’s Day is around the corner, another Mother’s Day that Edita Burgos is facing. On that special day in 2013 we wrote in this space: “We recall the mothers who have lost their children too soon, through injustice, disease, or unfortunate circumstance. For the mothers who continue to fight for the return of their lost children, we wish unwavering courage and endurance, as well as truth,  justice and closure.”

Edita Burgos prays that those involved in Jonas’ disappearance would “soften their hearts.” May the coldest heart be moved by a mother’s continuing lament for her missing child.