The Children of the Disappeared
On December 25, 2010, The Philippine Daily Inquirer ran my story about the children of the disappeared. Below is the excerpt of the story of Bayan Intise and his sister, Malaya:
For Bayan Intise, 25, the best gift that he and his sister, Malaya, could get is to see their parents again.
“Four Christmases and they are still missing. Both I and Malaya really want to see them,” he said.
Bayan’s parents—Federico and Nelly—went missing on October 26, 2006. They were last seen in Purok Puting Bato in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City. They disappeared with Gloria Canaveral. The human rights group Karapatan in General Santos City reported that the three were with a man identified as Rex Solon, a former cadre of the New People’s Army and suspected of being a military asset.
This December is like the past three Decembers for them. It would be filled with longing for their parents who taught them selflessness.
“We long to see our parents,” he said. He said he also wanted to get closure to his search, to find out whether his parents were still alive or dead.
Recently, Bayan and Bips communed with families and victims of extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture, harassment and other forms of attacks on human rights during the Human Rights Summit initiated by human rights monitor Barug Katungod Mindanao in Davao.
Standing before other victims, a courageous Bayan said: “My father was a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) … my mother was a civilian. Both of them have yet to come home … and we are waiting, painfully waiting for their homecoming.”
Bayan’s parents are among the 51 victims of enforced disappearances in Mindanao under the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Since President Aquino took power, Karapatan says it has recorded two cases of enforced disappearances.
No comments:
Post a Comment