7/29/2019 Message of the Executive Secretary for the 2013
International Day of Enforced Disappearances
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Office of the Executive Secretary
MESSAGE
On August 30, 2013, the Philippines joins the United Nations and
the rest of the world in their
third year observance of the International Day of the Victims of
Enforced Disappearances.
The Philippines commemoration of this event this year is made
more meaningful with the on-
going implementation of Republic Act 10353, or the Anti-Enforced
Disappearances Act, which was
signed into law by President Aquino in December 2012.
The first of its kind in Asia, Republic Act 10353, criminalizes
the practice of enforced or
involuntary disappearance, defined as the arrest, detention,
abduction or any other form of deprivation
of liberty committed by government authorities or by persons or
groups of persons acting with the
authorization, support or acquiescence of such persons in
authority, followed by a refusal to
acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the
fate or whereabouts of the disappeared
person, which places such person outside the protection of
law.
Given its obligations under this law, as well as its commitment
as a State party to theInternational Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the Philippine government continues to
sustain
reliable mechanisms to address cases of enforced disappearances.
One such mechanism is the Task
Force Usig under the Philippine National Police which
facilitates the continued investigation of such
cases, especially those involving militant leaders and media
personalities. Another mechanism is the
inter-agency committee created pursuant to Administrative Order
No. 35, s. 2012, that looks into the
progress of cases of, among other grave human rights violations,
enforced disappearances.
We are grateful that these mechanisms are well appreciated and
supported. The European
Union has recently extended resources for the second phase of
the European Union Philippine Justice
Support Programme (EPJUST), a large portion of which will boost
the work of the AO 35 inter-agency
committee, including the introduction of a better coordinated
system of witness protection, as well as
alternative protection measures for witnesses.
Enforced disappearance, as advocates against its perpetuation
point out, is a strategy to foment
fear while repressing rights and freedoms. Sadly, as in other
grave human rights violations, enforced
disappearances do not affect the individual target victims or
their families and friends alone. In a much
larger sense, our capacity to protect the integrity and safety
of our citizens within an environment of
freedom, justice, and peace, and our determination to end the
perceived climate of impunity are made
to suffer. If only for this, all of us must, by all means,
condemn and put an end to enforced
disappearances now.
(sgd.)
PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.
Executive Secretary
M A N I L A
