Last 2 years an eternity of uncertainty, says mom of Jonas Burgos

MANILA, Philippines – Activist Jonas Burgos was having lunch by himself at a restaurant in a mall on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City when two armed men and a woman abducted him in full view of mall goers on April 28, 2007. 

Two years later, his family is still looking for him.

For his mother Edita, the last two years “has been like an eternity of uncertainty”.

“We were able to proceed only because in these two years of affliction, the family has been blessed with relatives, friends and unnamed supporters, especially artists and those in media, who have provided all kinds of assistance,” Edita wrote in her blog posted yesterday at http://freejonasburgosmovement. blogspot.com.

She said the family has been “praying, appealing, filing cases, searching, yet nothing is known of Jonas’ fate.”

“What is certain is that the perpetrators used a car with license plate TAB 194, which at the time of abduction was in the custody of the (Army’s) 56th Infantry Battalion. And what is more certain is that the state actors have all participated in the cover up so that I would not find out what truly happened,” she lamented.

Today, family and friends will commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Jonas’ disappearance with a Mass to be celebrated by Fr. Robert Reyes at 9 a.m. in front of Camp Aguinaldo Gate, Quezon City.

The family vowed to continue the search for Jonas, whose father Jose Burgos Jr. is regarded as a press freedom icon in the country.

They also promised to continue the aspirations of the missing agriculturist, who only wanted to serve the Filipino people.

“We, the family and friends of Jonas, have not given up. We have been constant and consistent in our efforts to locate him. We shall not forget. Though the forces of evil, now present in the very institutions that vow to protect the people, shroud the truth about what befell Jonas, we believe that in His time and our perfect time, the truth will be known and justice will be served,” Edita said.

“We have stated again and again… we shall not be cowed into silence, nor terrorized into paralysis. Though we be ‘ambassadors in chains,’ we shall be given the courage and the words to speak the truth,” she added. – Katherine Adraneda