Docu-film 'Alipato at Muog' seeks to unravel truth of disappeared activist Jonas Burgos, other victims

AT NOON of April 28, 2007, Jonas Burgos was having his lunch inside a restaurant of a crowded Ever Gotesco Mall in Manila when four armed men and a woman in plain clothes dragged him out and abducted him.

Seventeen years later, family and advocacy groups continued their painful journey in search of the 37-year-old farmer and activist, whose father, the late Jose Burgos, was a figurehead of press freedom in the Philippines during the Martial Law years.

This July 2024, filmmaker JL Burgos unveiled to the public a film “Alipato at Muog (Flying Embers and a Fortress)” that seeks to "uncover the hard truths" surrounding the enforced disappearance of his older brother and other desaparecidos (Spanish term for the disappeared) in the country.

According to rights group Karapatan, about 1,912 desaparecidos remain missing to date since the Martial Law period under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“But how can justice prevail when the crime is committed by the very institution that is mandated to protect its people? Where does one even turn for answers?” asked Burgos.

“This is why this documentary is very personal to me. Telling Jonas’s story is telling the story of more than a thousand victims of enforced disappearance. Our nightmare is the nightmare of every family of a desaparecido,” the filmmaker said in a statement on July 16.

The documentary film has also made it a finalist in the country’s biggest independent film festival, Cinemalaya 2024’s full-length film category.

“There are no illusions that this documentary will stop enforced disappearances. But it is my hope that this film will serve as both a step towards finding Jonas and a stride towards justice for all victims of enforced disappearance,” Burgos added.

The film will be released during the Cinemalaya 20th year celebration from August 2 to 11, 2024 at Ayala Malls Manila Bay, Greenbelt, Trinoma, UP Town Center, and Market Market in Manila.

“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,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan’s secretary-general.

“Despite a law criminalizing enforced disappearance, these brutal acts continue, especially under the dictator Marcos’ son. At least 12 individuals have been abducted under the Marcos Jr. regime and remain missing,” said Palabay.

She also urged the public to watch the film.

Carlos Conde, senior researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said they are “happy and heartened that the family of Jonas Burgos has taken the step to highlight yet again his disappearance and their years-long struggle to find him.”

“The film is a testament to the continuing scourge of enforced disappearances in the Philippines, targeting mostly activists, often Indigenous peoples and environment defenders. The administration of President Marcos Jr., if it's serious about improving the human rights situation in the Philippines, needs to address this problem,” Conde said in a report from Catholic news site UCA News.

“It needs to hold responsible state security forces who are often behind these disappearances, which should have no place in a supposedly democratic society,” he added.

Asked about what he would expect from the Philippine government once the film hits the cinemas, the younger Burgos said: “We are really hoping, as ordered by the courts, that the government particularly the state forces to surface Jonas in whatever state he’s in.”

“And to continue the investigation thoroughly without any fear and favor from the suspected perpetrators, who are now holding powerful positions, for a just resolution of the case,” Burgos told Sunstar Philippines on July 16.

Film highlights

Also, in the forefront of their battle to find the older Burgos is Edita, their mother who is now 80 years old.

According to the filmmaker and their family, “Alipato at Muog” was presented through testimonials of their lawyer, a reporter, a former Justice Secretary and Human Rights Commission chairman, and witnesses “who agreed to appear on condition of anonymity, combined with animation and never-before-seen footage of the family’s relentless search.”

The vehicle that was used in the abduction of the older Burgos was traced to a military camp.

Amid the ongoing incidents of enforced disappearance in the country, the government’s rights body, Commission on Human Rights, in its May 2024 statement, reiterated that “arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of liberty are grave human rights violations as stipulated under Republic Act No. 10353, or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012.”

“The past 17 years looking for my uncle have been long and difficult but necessary. The same goes with the making of the documentary. Help us uncover the truth by supporting the film,” said Bernardine de Belen, co-screenplay writer, in a video statement. (SunStar Philippines)