The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) joins the human rights community in sounding the alarm over the disappearance of James Jazmines, the youngest brother of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Alan Jazmines.
Earlier, the human rights group Karapatan reported the alleged disappearance of Jazmines, who was last spotted in Barangay San Lazaro, Tabaco City, in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region, last August 23. The search for Jazmines’s whereabouts continues, the ICHRP stated.
“ICHRP is alarmed by the continuing reports of abductions and enforced disappearances under the Marcos Jr. government. The continuing cases affirm the verdict of the recently held International Peoples Tribunal, which found President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his government, along other defendants guilty of violations of international humanitarian law,” IHCRP chairperson Peter Murphy said in a statement sent to the City Post.
Earlier, activist and environmentalist Rowena Dasig was reported missing after being released from detention in Quezon province.
Murphy, citing the reports by Karapatan said, Jazmines’s wife has been red-tagged multiple times in 2023 through the program Laban ng Masa, being aired by Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), a media outfit owned and managed by religious leader Apollo Quiboloy and a known supporter and close ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Murphy believes that there is a connection between the “red-tagging” and the disappearance of James Jazmines.
“ICHRP calls on the Philippine government to immediately surface James Jazmines and all victims of Enforced Disappearances. We call on the international community to join us in our Global Day of Action on August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared,” Murphy said. (NOEL SALES BARCELONA)