‘Alipato at Muog’

I sat there in the dark stunned, frustrated and helpless. I couldn’t steel myself to leave even if I was well aware I had to rush out because I had a deadline to catch.

But it was nearly impossible to move. One had to gasp for air first after watching “Alipato at Muog,” a stunning and heartfelt documentary by filmmaker JL Burgos about his missing brother Jonas, a farmer and activist.

On Friday, Aug. 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, I squeezed in an hour and a half to watch the film at the UP Film Center because it might be my last chance to catch it, with the Cinemalaya Film Festival documentary getting an X rating from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

An X rating is tantamount to a public viewing ban.

But the film demands to be seen and the MTRCB is wrong in giving it an X rating. It said the movie “tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government.”

The irony is that it is precisely because of such blatant state censorship that citizens lose faith in government.

“Alipato at Muog” is a powerful yet profoundly sad film but it is a must-see for every freedom-loving Filipino; for every citizen who longs to see a society that is just and fair; for every family who cares about each and every member.

It is as much about a mother’s search for her missing son as it is a mirror on everything that was wrong in our society decades ago and to this day – from failed land reform, to income inequality, to elusive justice to authorities’ intolerance of dissent.

Who is Jonas Burgos?

Jonas Burgos, son of press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, was last seen on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City.

The film tells the story of the family’s painstaking search for their missing loved one.

For 17 years, Jonas’ mother Edita Burgos has looked inside body bags, at photographs of dead men; braved meetings with military officials inside military camps and led street protests in a grueling and painstaking search for her missing son, the third among her five children.

Jonas’ youngest brother JL even looked in mental wards to chase leads about Jonas, only to find himself at a dead end once more.

Searching for a loved one who has been missing for 17 years leaves a person in a complex state of conflicting internal struggle.

When you are asked to identify a newly unearthed corpse, you are caught in a bind. A part of you wants closure so you end up hoping that you would finally recognize the dead in front of you; that he would be the loved one you’ve been searching for, for years.

But at the same time, a bigger part of you is hoping against hope that it will not be him, because you cling on to the possibility – however remote – that he may still be alive. Still alive, by some miracle.

Such an ordeal is not for the faint of heart. But as Edita Burgos said, she has not lost hope.

She nurtures a thought in her mind – that one day, Jonas may just show up on their doorstep and finally tell her that he is home for dinner. And for good.

Unresolved

What really happened to Jonas Burgos? The film points to the military as responsible for his abduction but previous cases filed by the family have been dismissed.

Edita Burgos has tagged Eduardo Año, a military intelligence chief at the time, as the mastermind of her son’s disappearance. Año, currently the National Security Adviser, has denied any involvement.

The film, however, has shown evidence pointing to the military’s involvement.

This isn’t surprising.

For decades, we have heard of abuses perpetrated by state actors, including the military and the police.

Volumes and volumes of court documents, and court decisions, have proven this.

Just recently, the Philippine National Police has even been tagged as the biggest crime group in the Philippines – by a lieutenant colonel, no less.

I share the family’s hope that the film can lead to new leads on Jonas’ case or better yet, finally put an end to the family’s ordeal.

If President Marcos is sincere and serious in redeeming his family’s name, he should, as commander-in-chief, find out what really happened to Jonas Burgos.

He must see to it that this case and that of other cases of enforced disappearances will finally be resolved and that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

For sure, there is somebody within the organization or outside who knows what really happened to Jonas. It is time to tell the family what they know if only to help a grieving mother know the truth about her missing son.

Social injustice

One does not have to be an activist to feel the pain of the Burgos family. Or to see the truth in what the film has succeeded in telling – that dissent, much like a flying ember or alipato, sparks from a huge dangerous fire of social injustice.

And this is what our government always forgets – that the truth can never be hidden and dissent, so long as the times call for it, can never be stopped, not even by forcibly disappearing those who chose to fight for freedom and justice.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.