Elizabeth “Loi” Magbanua, 57 years old, left her home in Manila on May 3 for a meeting in Bgy. Punturin, Valenzuela with other labor organizers. She, together with colleague Alipio “Ador” Juat, left after the meeting ended around 7 in the evening. That was the last time Loi was seen. Ador would later communicate with his family and inform them that on that night, they were abducted by armed forces of the state, forced into separate vehicles and he was currently detained in Camp Aguinaldo. He has no idea where Loi was taken.   

Exactly two months later, in July 3, Ma. Elena “Cha” Cortez Pampoza, 55, a member of Anakpawis, and Elgene Mungcal, 50, of Gabriela Women’s Party, went missing in Anao, Tarlac. They were last seen around 8 in the evening, riding a local tri-wheel vehicle en route to a supposed network’s house.     Both were working with farmers in the locality on ownership rights.

Loi, Ador, Cha and Elgene are long-time defenders of human rights. Spanning decades, each of them has worked for the protection and advancement of the peasants’ right to land; of workers’ right to just wages, security of tenure and right to bargain; and women’s rights against discrimination and violence.  

Their  continued disappearance violates the Philippines’ Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act supposedly enforced since 2013 and violates the 2010 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 

Theirs are the most recent case of enforced disappearance, a scheme that was widely employed during the Martial Law period under Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. and continues to this day under Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.; a practice of state forces defined in international law as a crime against humanity.  

Thus, we call on concerned organizations and agencies, local and international, to compel the Armed Forces of the Philippines to immediately surface Loi, Ador, Cha and Elgene. Their voices as human rights defenders – and anyone who dares to struggle – should not be silenced.