Filipino independent filmmaker JL Burgos has unveiled to the public a film titled “Alipato at Muog” (Flying embers and a Fortress) that seeks to “uncover the hard truths” surrounding the enforced disappearance of his brother and other victims in the country.
“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 said.
The docufilm features JL’s older brother, the 37-year-old farmer-activist Jonas Burgos, who was abducted by alleged members of government military on April 28, 2007, while having his lunch inside a restaurant of a crowded Ever Gotesco Mall in Manila.
Seventeen years later, the Burgos family and advocacy groups continue their painful journey for the search of Jonas, whose family’s patriarch, the late Jose Burgos, was a figurehead of press freedom in the Philippines during the Martial Law regime.
Rights group Karapatan said about 1,912 ‘desaparecidos’ remain missing to date since the Martial Law period of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.—father and namesake of the incumbent Philippine president.
“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.
Interestingly, the film has also made it as finalist in the country’s biggest independent film festival, Cinemalaya 2024’s full length film category.
The film will be available from August 2 to 11, 2024 in Manila cinemas.
Asked what he would expect from the Philippine government once the film hits the cinemas, the younger Burgos said: “We really are 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 Manila Standard in an interview.
Cristina Palabay, Karapatan’s secretary-general, expressed their support to JL’s initiative in sharing this film to the public via Cinemalaya, while thanking “all filmmakers, artists and educators who produce works that shine light on the crime of enforced disappearance in the Philippines.”
“Despite a law criminalizing enforced disappearance, these brutal acts continue… At least 12 individuals have been abducted under the Marcos, Jr. regime and remain missing,” Palabay said in a statement on July 15, as she urged the public to watch the film.
“We 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,” Carlos Conde, senior research at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, also told Manila Standard in an interview.
“If it (current Marcos administration) is serious about improving the human rights situation in the Philippines, (the President) needs to address this problem,” said Conde.
“It needs to hold responsible state security forces who are often behind these disappearances, which should have no place in a supposedly democratic society.”
On the forefront of their battle is Edita, the mother who is now 80 years old.
According to the filmmaker, the story of “Alipato at Muog” was presented through the points-of-view 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, they reiterated.
“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-screenwriter, in a video statement posted online.
