By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
Documentary film “Alipato at Muog” (Flying Embers and a Fortress) makes it as a finalist in Cinemalaya 2024’s full length film category that captures the struggles shared by families of victims of enforced disappearances.
Cinemalaya is a film festival celebrated during the month of August, which aims to promote Filipino independent films. Cinemalaya will be celebrating its 20th year from August 2 to 11, 2024. For this year, it is notable that a full-length documentary about desaparecidos (Spanish word for the disappeared) made it to the selection.
Desaparecidos, also an organization of families and friends of victims of desaparecidos in the Philippines, congratulates Jose Luis “JL” Burgos, the documentary’s director and also a member of their organization.
“JL, a member of Desaparecidos, is a filmmaker, visual artist and activist. His parents Joe and Edith Burgos, together with other journalists, ran WeForum, a publication during Marcos’ martial law that released stories on human rights, poverty and corruption during the dictatorship,” said Desaparecidos in a press statement.
The story revolves around the painstaking and unrelenting search for JL’s abducted brother, Jonas Burgos, who has been missing since April 28, 2007.
Bulatlat has closely followed the family’s journey of fighting for justice.
Read: Timeline | The Search for Jonas Burgos
Read: How the military hid the truth behind Jonas Burgos abduction
“We support JL’s initiative in sharing this film to the public via Cinemalaya, as we thank all filmmakers, artists and educators who produce works that shine light on the crime of enforced disappearance in the Philippines,” the group said.
Relevant
The film is relevant given the continuing incidents of enforced disappearances under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. According to human rights group Karapatan, at least 12 individuals have been recorded missing. In the past two years, at least six human rights defenders who were abducted surfaced.
In an earlier story of Bulatlat this year, Desaparecidos and other human rights organizations, commemorated the 17th year of the disapperance of Jonas, which also coincided with the first year of abduction of indigenous peoples’ rights activist Dexter Capuyan and Gene Ros “Bazoo” De Jesus.
Desaparecidos invites the public to watch the documentary and call for the surfacing of all desaparecidos.
“We likewise encourage various groups, organizations and individuals to organize screenings of the documentary film in communities, workplaces and schools. We will work with the Burgos family in bringing the documentary’s message wherever possible,” Desaparecidos said.
In 2017, the Regional Trial Court Branch 216 acquitted Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr., one of the suspects in the disappearance of Jonas. The alleged mastermind behind the abduction, Gen. Eduardo Año, has been promoted several times, and now serves as the National Security Adviser.
Notably, the alarming cases of desaparecidos continue despite the enactment of the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012. Until today, no one has been convicted under this law and Jonas remains missing. (RVO) 
