Kin of desaparecidos write to Pope Francis

MANILA, Philippines - Families of desaparecidos (missing people) have written Pope Francis asking him to intercede in seeking justice for their loved ones.

Members of a group known as desaparecidos gathered last All Souls’ Day and lighted candles and offered flowers to remember people that were allegedly forcibly taken by state security forces during martial law and up to the present.

Desaparecidos secretary-general Aya Santos said they have followed and listened to a series of statements of Francis on justice and human rights.

“Hope springs when on several occasions he made clear his firm stand to defend human rights and seek social justice,” she said.

“We turn to the pope for support because under the current Aquino regime, human rights violations against the people intensify without let up. We stand as testimonies to the gross situation of human rights here in the country.”

Santos said the visit of Francis is an opportune time for families of desaparecidos to voice out the injustice and rights violations in the Philippines.

“Beyond remembering, families and relatives of victims of enforced and involuntary disappearances come together as a reminder that our loved ones have yet to be surfaced and the state’s policy of enforced disappearances has to stop,” she said.

Santos said 21 people have gone missing under the Aquino administration, which have added to the number of the missing since the Marcos dictatorship.

“Despite the passage of the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law, the crime of enforced disappearance continues as a state policy under Oplan Bayanihan, Aquino’s counter-insurgency program,” she said.