Where is Jonas?

By Al S. Mendoza

WHAT’S peace and order again?

You have peace of mind when you roam the streets under moonlit skies.

You can sleep tight at night even with your windows wide open.

You can stroll at the park unmolested by muggers or holdup men.

You can sing “My Way” to your heart’s content without getting stabbed or shot at.

You can run for an elective office and not getting gunned down while attending a fiesta coronation at the city plaza.

Jonas Burgos was eating lunch at a mall near the village where I live when he was abducted.

It’s been almost three months since and Jonas remains missing.

Jonas is the son of Joe Burgos, the late press freedom fighter who founded Malaya and We-Forum.

They had forcibly tossed Jonas into a military van. That van was later traced as the property of the Department of Agriculture. 

Hair-raising, if not downright bizarre.

Isn’t the government supposed to protect the people?

The military, which is supposed to be the No. 1 protector of the people, was generally believed to be behind the kidnap/abduction of Jonas.

I can believe that.  Jonas is a self-proclaimed activist who, like his father Joe, is very vocal in championing the cause of the marginalized farmers in Bulacan.  It was in the middle of Joe’s farm in Bulacan that his remains had been interred.

Jonas was shouting “Aktibista ako!” as he was being bodily carried away by four armed men.

The stunned mall customers couldn’t lift a finger to rescue Jonas.  Two men pointed guns at them.

Why would anyone kidnap Jonas, 35, a man not known to have enemies?

The truth is, like his father Joe, Jonas is well-loved by hundreds, if not thousands, of our common tao.

It’s happening again, indeed.

Before martial was declared in 1972, you are the military’s No. 1 enemy if you sided with the people.

When Marcos made himself dictator in 1972, the military either arrested or killed our pro-people folk. 

During martial law, I had friends from the media who disappeared-many of them not of their own choice-and were never found again.  Not even their remains. Desaparecidos they were called. Disappeared. Erased from the face of the Earth.

Jonas was a martial law baby.

Thirty five years to the day he was born, to the day the dictatorship was obliterated, Jonas is a missing person.

If it’s any consolation, the Commission on Human Rights Commission (CHR), acting on behalf of Jonas Burgos, wanted an official word from the military’s top banana, General Bangit.

Alas, Bangit (as of this writing) refused to honor the invitation of the commission.

Bangit’s action is the best formula to make our people hate our soldiers.

Now, if GMA is really pro-people, not to say a champion of justice, freedom and democracy, she should order Bangit to appear before the CHR.  As the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, GMA must flex her military muscles once in a while.

Meanwhile, Jonas Burgos remains missing.

Joe Burgos must be turning in his grave right now.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/)

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