THE mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos
has obtained expressions of support from the offices of Illinois
Sen. Barack Obama, who is leading the Democratic presidential
nomination and Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John
McCain.
"The offices that we have visited showed a
great concern on the human rights situation in the Philippines,"
said Edita Burgos, who is in the US on a seven-city speaking
tour to drum up support in her quest to find her son.
The offices of Senator Barbara Boxer (D.,
Calif.) and Richard Lugar (R., Ind.), both senior members of the
Senate foreign relations committee, also opened their doors to
Burgos.
As of this weekend, Burgos said she has
visited the Capitol offices of Representatives Adam Smith (D.,
Wash.), Ellen Tauscher (D., Calif.), Doris Matsui (D., Calif.),
Joseph R. Pitts (R., Penn.), and Jerry McNerney (D., Calif.)
She said she could not yet disclose details
of the meetings but assured media she would issue an update via
email "as soon as I can."
At a benefit dinner in New York Saturday last
week (Sunday in Manila), which jumpstarted her speaking tour,
Burgos spoke of "what goes through a mother’s head, knowing that
at any moment of the day, her son is being tortured."
"This is the culture of impunity in the
Philippines today, meaning the military can do this in broad
daylight because they know there will be no consequences for
their actions, and the people live in fear of them," she said.
Burgos joined Filipino Americans in raising
the call for President Arroyo’s removal from office.
"She simply needs to go. More important than
knowing who will replace her is the collective mission to remove
her from office. In fact, if they say GMA Watch, I say GMA
oust," she said.
GMA Watch is a Filipino-American advocacy
network that is participating in Church-led lobbying efforts to
hold Arroyo accountable for alleged widespread violations of
human rights.
Burgos’ visit also galvanized the usually
fractious Filipino-American community, with both conservative
and progressive groups coming together to express outrage over
Jonas’ continued disappearance.
Members of the progressive National Alliance
for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and the conservative National
Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) voiced
support for Burgos at the benefit dinner.
Apart from New York and Washington D.C.,
Burgos’ itinerary includes Minneapolis, Seattle, San Francisco,
and Los Angeles.
Burgos is accompanied by Mervin Toquero of
the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.
Burgos has also sat down with UN special rapporteur Philip
Alston at the New York University and Elaine Pearson, director
of the Asia Division of the Human Rights Watch in Manhattan. –
Anthony Ian Cruz
