On the Fringes | Alipato at Muog, and the roller coaster of emotions

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

I and my colleagues in Bulatlat have followed the Jonas Burgos case closely. When I learned of JL Burgos’s documentary “Alipato at Muog,” ( Flying Embers and a Fortress) I knew I must not let it pass.

On Saturday, I and three friends from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) went to Ayala Malls Manila Bay. We came in a few minutes late, and so we groped in the dark for our seats while hearing Mrs. Edita Burgos’s voice. I sat somewhere in row C while my companions were seated in row J. “Patay. Magpipigil ako ng iyak nito,” I told myself.

Sixteen years in the making. I took this photo on April 28, 2012, fifth year of the disappearance of Jonas Burgos. I knew that JL was planning to do a documentary on the family’s search for Jonas. He had hoped for a good ending until he realized the film could not wait any longer.

True enough, the 90-minute documentary brought to the surface emotions suppressed throughout the 16 years of chronicling the journey of the Burgos family to find Jonas and of other families of victims of enforced disappearances in the Philippines.

Read: Timeline | The Search for Jonas Burgos
Read: How the military hid the truth behind Jonas Burgos abduction

I felt pain. Seeing on a big screen the family’s trips to military camps, a police station, and even to a mental health facility only to go home empty-handed and emotionally drained tightened my chest. I could only imagine how Mrs. Burgos, Mean, Yumi, Peachy, JL, Sonny, Ann, and hundreds of other families of the disappeared deal with “a pain that will never go away” even as they try to live normal lives. Their agony is endless, and the cruelty never stops until they get their loved ones back.

I felt helpless. There were not a few clips of Burgos family talking with other members of Desaparecidos, an organization, which Mrs. Burgos said she doesn’t want to keep growing. Some of them have been searching for more than three decades. What else can I do besides writing? Even if my hands bleed, writing stories cannot surface Jonas, Karen Empeño, Sherlyn Cadapan and the lesser known desaparecidos like Honor Ayroso, Johnny Orcino, Cesar Batralo, Gloria Soco, Romulos Robinos, and many many more.

I felt angry. Angry at the abductors, at the entire system that rewards those who commit monstrosities. I wanted to scream with Raymond Manalo, key witness to the abduction of UP students Karen and Sherlyn, when he lost his case against Palparan. I am angry that Eduardo Año, who was implicated in the case, is now National Security Adviser. The other military personnel named in the documents also got promoted.

When the lights were turned on, I went to the Burgoses and offered them the least I could give – a hug. I was lost for words, and just cried with Mrs. Burgos, Peachy and Mean. The film made me admire even more their tenacity and that of other families of the disappeared as well.

As I turned around, I saw a fellow journalist standing in front of the big screen. When our eyes met, we gave each other a tight hug. His sob turned into a mournful cry. His friend Bazoo, who was abducted on April 28, 2023, is still missing.

At the end of the first public screening, JL said, “Wala po kaming artista. Ang meron lang kami ay katotohanan.”

The documentary is disturbing as it throws at us painful truths. While the film revolves around the search for Jonas Burgos, it also confronts us – Shall we allow enforced disappearances and the system that breeds it to continue? What kind of democracy do we have when the very institutions mandated to protect us are the very ones violating our human rights? What should we do to stop this?

Go watch this brave and authentic film, spread the truth, and support the desaparecidos’ fight for justice. As Mrs. Burgos said, “We will never stop. We will be the voice of the voiceless.”