James Jazmines, 63, former public information officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) has been missing since Aug. 23, 2024. He was last seen in Barangay San Lorenzo, Tabaco City, Albay. Until this day, he has not communicated with his family and human rights groups are worried that Jazmines has become the 14th victim of enforced disappearance under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said suspicions are rife that Jazmines was abducted by state agents, noting that the military and its appendage, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) created by Rodrigo Duterte, have been hot on the heels of James in the vain hope that by tailing him, they could capture his elder brother, Alan, a longtime National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) consultant. James graduated from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) in 1978 and took up BS Psychology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman (UP Diliman.)
The NTF-ELCAC also repeatedly red-tagged the wife of James in the “Laban ng Masa” program of the Sonshine Media Network Int’l. (SMNI), the witch-hunting broadcast unit of now-wanted Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy whose franchise was supposed to have been revoked by the House of Representatives. The wife, a development worker, was mistaken as the wife of Alan, Karapatan and the KMU stressed.
KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis said James Jazmines worked as the labor federation’s public information officer from 1988 to 1992, was the editor of Commitment, the official paper of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and became the executive director of the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center. He was the information technology (IT) consultant of a development NGO for a long time before working freelance in the IT sector later.
“Members of the Jazmines family, including James, have been subjected to round-the -clock surveillance, threats and harassment over the decades because of the military’s relentless operations to locate Alan and arrest him,” Palabay revealed. “We believe that James’ disappearance is either the latest in the military’s arsenal of dirty tricks to force his brother Alan to surface or is a vicious example of ‘palit-ulo,’ given the military’s continuing failure to arrest Alan,” said Palabay. “We denounce this foul maneuver by the military and demand that James be surfaced safe and sound and be reunited with his family.”
KMU holds the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the NTF-ELCAC responsible for the disappearance of Jazmines, like the thousands who were snatched during the 14 years of Marcos martial law. The disappearance of James Jazmines is the 14th case since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took power in 2022. KMU warns that the spate of disappearances raises fears that the current leadership may be pursuing a “no prisoners” policy as regards dissidents as well as armed fighters who have been captured, wounded or in no position to fight as “hors d’combat” has been condemned here and abroad. The suspicious deaths of Concha Araneta and nine others in Iloilo and another one in Antique, along with the five killed in Bohol, including a new bar passer and an ailing suspected NPA leader who was hacked dead, should prompt an inquiry by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR.)
“Labing-apat na ang sapilitang iwinala sa panahon ni Bongbong. Kabilang na dito ang organisador ng KMU sa Southern Mindanao na si William Lariosa. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin inililitaw ang organisador na si Loi Magbanua. Ang buwis naming mga manggagawa, ibinubuhos sa mga berdugo sa ilalim ng Department of National Defense (DND.) Mas mataas ng 50% ang proposed budget nila kumpara sa nagdaang taon. Badyet ng karahasan sa mamamayan, hindi para sa karapatan at kapakanan” Adonis said. “Nananawagan ako sa lahat ng mamamayan, ipahayag nating sawa na tayo sa napakaraming paglabag sa karapatang pantao. Panahon nang may managot. Tumindig po tayo para sa hustisya.”
The disappearance of James Jimenez comes as the showing of the documentary “Alipato at Muog” about the abduction and search for Jonas Burgos, son of former Malaya publisher and press freedom advocate Joe Burgos, continues at the Cine Adarna at the University of the Philippines Film Center in Diliman. The Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB) gave the documentary an “X” rating, preventing it from being shown to millions of young people nationwide. The rating is akin to banning the truth from the screen. It won’t make the truth disappear.
