Are we back to the martial law era when government agents could just grab people off the streets for them to surface later—either in a military or police camp, or lifeless in a ditch somewhere?
Such fear was foremost on people’s minds following the abduction on Jan. 10 of development workers Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha, as they stepped off the ferry at Cebu after a family visit in Mindanao. A video shared by an anonymous witness showed the couple being handcuffed and shoved into a silver-colored car by men who identified themselves as police officers.
The two, who were recovered by their families on Monday in a resort in northern Cebu after negotiations between the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu and undisclosed parties, recalled being blindfolded, driven around in circles, and interrogated in separate rooms.
Human rights organization Karapatan in Central Visayas described Gumanao as the coordinator for the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Cebu, and of a nonprofit group that provides legal assistance to marginalized groups in the province. Dayoha, a visual artist and BA Psychology graduate from UP Cebu, is a volunteer at the Visayas Human Development Agency and at the Alliance of Health Workers-Cebu.
Despite assurances from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas that it would conduct “a deep, thorough, and impartial probe” into the incident, Karapatan is mulling charges to demand accountability from several parties, including port authorities, the police, and the Coast Guard, for their “inaction” during the incident. As the abduction was done in broad daylight and in the presence of many people, the police has many leads to arrest the perpetrators if it really wanted to.
The couple’s abduction allegedly by the police recalls the case of Dr. Natividad Castro, a rural doctor and public health advocate, who was arrested in her San Juan City home by police officers in February 2022, and immediately flown to Mindanao, leaving her whereabouts unknown to her family. Citing the lack of evidence and court jurisdiction, a Bayugan City judge dismissed the kidnapping charges against Castro, although another judge ordered her rearrested shortly after her release.
The recent dismissal of five Laguna cops for the kidnapping of an “e-sabong” executive betrays a pattern of abuse of authority among this uniformed force as well.
Just as disturbing is the death threat against activist, playwright, and martial law survivor Bonifacio Ilagan, whose unknown caller warned him to “stop” what he was doing, adding that his unit was just waiting for “the final order from higher-ups” to have him killed.
In a statement, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expressed concern about the threat against this martial law survivor, whose sister was also a victim of enforced disappearance during that violent regime.
It is “in the interest of the state to protect the freedom of expression in these spaces of discourse from threats of violence. Conflicting opinions often facilitate the synthesis of a peaceful, democratic middle ground,” said the CHR.
That the Philippine National Police and the military establishment have yet to issue a strong statement distancing themselves from such incidents might well speak of the government’s continuing intolerance of dissenting voices, given the cyberlibel cases filed against some journalists and an online news site, and its support for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict by restoring its huge P10-billion budget. The task force’s Red-tagging without proof of outspoken critics, activists, celebrities, and lawyers had often preceded their arrest or harassment by government agents.
Such “militarist antics reminiscent of the dark days of martial law,” as Karapatan-Central Visayas put it, defeats President Marcos Jr.’s efforts to project the Philippines as a stable political economy worthy of global investments. They also put in doubt the much-vaunted rule of law that government officials have been trumpeting in international meets.
The couple is fortunate that they have a wide network of support, noted Karapatan, echoing the elder Gumanao’s sentiment that had the video clip of the abduction not gone viral, the pair would have remained missing. “What would have happened if ordinary people, the poor, workers, or farmers were put in the same situation?” Gumanao’s father asked.
That question makes it imperative for the police, military, and justice officials to probe with urgency this alarming incident, if only to restore the waning credibility of law enforcement agencies and protect our democratic space. As the Public Information Office of UP-Cebu stressed: “Any person deserves to talk, walk, or raise his or her fist unmolested. That is the essence of democracy.”