News Release
November 22, 2007
References: Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general, KMP
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general, KARAPATAN
 
Filipino activists urge UN body to send delegation and launch an inquiry on the enforced disappearances in RP
 
Geneva, Switzerland- Leaders of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Karapatan together with relatives of victims of enforced disappearances held a dialogue with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) here to urge them to come to the Philippines and investigate the increased incidence of the enforced disappearances under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
The delegation of activists were welcomed and heard by the whole committee chaired by eminent Mexican human rights lawyer Santiago Corcuera.
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of Karapatan tackled the current human rights situation in the Philippines and explained that aside from extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances are now also prevalent in the country.
“The cases of enforced disappearances are escalating and if this continues then it will not take long that today’s cases of desaparacidos will equal or even surpass those during Marcos’ time. The Macapagal-Arroyo regime is really a monstrous human rights violator, that aside from abducting activists it has now even resorted to abducting whole families and using the scheme of abducting a family member to blackmail or get an activist relative, as what happened with the case of Leni Robinos,”
As for her part Merdeka Limjoco, daughter of Philip Limjoco who was abducted by military agents last February 2006, narrated the anguish of their family in looking for their father. They are hoping that the WGEID can help in finding him.
Afterwards Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of KMP, showed that more than half of the victims of enforced disappearances are rural people, the most known of which are Ka Nilo Arado, national council member of KMP who was abducted  last April and Jonas Burgos who was abducted on the same month.
 “Peasants are being abducted because we continuously assert our right to land and genuine agrarian reform. We are asking the WGEID to come to the Philippines to see the real situation and help us in finding our friends and comrades,” said Ramos.
The WGEID responded by saying that they have already written to the Macapagal-Arroyo government since March 2006 for them to be invited to the Philippines but the regime has not answered up to now. They said that they will try to follow up their request, so that they can come at the earliest time possible. # # #