The case of the missing 34 “sabungeros” or cockfight aficionados who were suspected to be involved in rigged online betting in Luzon can be considered as a case of enforced disappearance.
Enforced disappearance is defined by the United Nations as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State.”
Further, it can also be carried out by “persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.”
Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has said that enforced disappearances can be carried out by non-state actors, or private armed groups or individuals.
AI said that “human rights defenders, relatives of those already disappeared, key witnesses and lawyers seem to be particular targets.”
In the Philippines, there are incidents of enforced disappearances from past to present.
As for the 34 sabungeros, investigators pointed out that the perpetrators could have carried out the abduction in retaliation for their huge financial losses, and there are suspicions that some members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) could have carried out the crime.
All the 34 sabungeros were kidnapped between 2020 and 2022, and they have not resurfaced since their disappearances.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was blunt when he said that it would be reasonable to presume the sabungeros as already dead; however, the PNP was still hopeful and said that the sabungeros are still presumed alive in spite of its failure to locate their whereabouts.
Presuming that the 34 sabungeros are already dead is a boulder weighing down on the hearts and minds of their loved ones who will possibly be in a sad state during Christmas and the New Year.
It has been reported that over a dozen PNP personnel have been relieved from their posts and charged with criminal cases due to their alleged involvement in some of the sabungeros’ disappearances.
The PNP must continue its investigation with eyes wide open and ferret out the truth. As for the missing sabungeros, it must continue searching for them.
Friday, Dec. 23, 2022 marks the 12th year since the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) came into force. Despite ICPPED’s adoption and enforcement, the United Nations has reported that obstacles to protect all persons from enforced disappearances continue to persist, and some of these are about prevention and search for disappeared persons and accountability.
Article 1 of ICPPED states that “No one shall be subjected to disappearance.” And that includes the sabungeros.
The sabungeros, regardless of how they live their lives, are still human beings, and they have guaranteed rights under the 1987 Constitution.
If they had done unlawful actions, they should be brought to court. The sabungeros have rights, one of which is the right to life.