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Patricia Ann M. Cruz Legal Writing 2 | Atty.

Angeli Vigo Jonas Burgos Movie: A Reaction Paper Unless you forgive, you cant do things objectively. I am single-minded on one objective: to recover Jonas alive. These words are not the words one would expect from a mother, being interviewed by the media, who have been searching for his disappeared son for almost six years. Ive had the chance of meeting and probing, even for a while, the strong-willed and unnerved protagonist of the movie Burgos last October 26, 2013 at the Colleges film showing of Joel Lamangans creation Burgos. One of the questions I asked Dr. Edita Burgos was about the faith that she still has (or the lack thereof) for the present Administration in pursuing the constitutional essence of the Writ of Amparo. Without flinching, she responded, ilang taon na ang nakalipas, hindi pa rin naman nahanap ang aking anak. Madami pa ding mga pamilya na nawalan ng anak at hindi na rin nakabalik. I immediately agreed, not wanting to comment any further; maybe it was because we had minimal time left for the open forum; maybe because I didnt know what it feels like to lose someone you love in a snap; maybe because I wasnt around during the Marcos era and wasnt quite familiar of the rampancy of enforced disappearances but I agreed from the surface knowledge I have of the desaparecidos and the story of Jonas Burgos. I agreed because at that moment, I believed this prerogative writ is not properly enforced in this country, because if it is, then why do we have someone like Dr. Edita Burgos around? The Writ of Amparo, to my knowledge, is enshrined in our present Constitution. Section 5 (5) of Article VIII of the Constitution grants the Judicial Branch the power to promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights. Pursuant to this, then Chief Justice Reynato Puno introduced the Philippine Writ of Amparo on July 2007, to supplement the inefficacy of the writ of habeas corpus especially during the Marcos administration where thousands of people (mostly suspected political activists) were taken by the military, without due process of law, and killed. Unfortunately, the families of these victims of extrajudicial killings were left with nothing but the intangible memory of their sons and daughters, which is exactly what happened to Dr. Edita Burgos. It is reported that after the implementation of this writ, there were cases that have been resolved by invoking the protection that the Writ of Amparo entails, particularly the release of one Luisito Bustamante from Davao City. However, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that there are still a great number of military officers that have gone unpunished. Take for example former Gen. Palparan, implicated on the abduction and disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, remains a fugitive while former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, implicated in the killing of environmentalist Gerry Ortega is likewise in hiding. Gen. Eduardo Ano, charged for the abduction of Jonas Burgos was dropped from the charge list, while Major Harry Baliaga, the only military officer charged by the CA in the Burgos case had recently posted a P40, 000 bail. While our Constitution highly regards the protection of life, liberty and freedom as foremost of its Bill of Rights by enacting enabling laws like the Writ of Amparo, then why do we still bear the paper trails of the Marcos administration? President Benigno Aquino III has ordered a new investigation of the Burgos case last April 2013 but to this day, Dr. Edita Burgos is still searching for her disappeared son, telling me, ilang taon na ang nakalipas, hindi pa rin naman nahanap ang aking anak. Madami pa ding mga pamilya na nawalan ng anak at hindi na rin nakabalik.

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