Families of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances by state forces held various activities on November 2, All Souls’ Day. They demanded justice for their missing loved ones and vowed to continue their struggle to hold accountable those responsible for the crimes.

Led by Rise Up for Life and for Rights, the families of victims of the Duterte regime’s “war on drugs” gathered anew at a convent in Quezon City. This was the eighth year that the families have come together to remember their loved ones who were killed in the fake war on drugs. A mass was officiated by Fr. Manuel Gatchalian, SVD, and ICM nuns.

According to Rise Up, the gathering was an opportunity for the families to express their unity and demand justice. The group thanked those who joined them from the Movement Against Tyranny and the support given by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. They also acknowledged the participation of Kadamay’s Ka Mimi Doringo, Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Emmie de Jesus of Gabriela Women’s Party.

The families of desaparecidos held a separate activity at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. They lit candles and offered flowers in front of the photographs of their loved ones the state had disappeared for years. The families of the victims were overcome with grief, as they had no graves to visit and leave candles on.

Under the Marcos regime, Karapatan documented at least 14 victims of enforced disappearances. Since the time of the Marcos I dictatorship, human rights groups have documented 1,894 victims of enforced disappearances.

According to the group Desaparecidos, the increasing number of victims is proof of the ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and the rampant climate of impunity in the country. “We demand the surfacing of the victims of enforced disappearances,” said Dr. Edita Burgos, mother of activist Jonas Burgos who was abducted in 2007.

In other parts of the country, human rights groups and other mass organizations held activities to honor and recognize the martyrs of the mass movement and the Philippine revolution. This included a gathering by the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) and its local chapters to commemmorate the martyrs of the community.

“From the organizers, former presidents and spokespersons of Kasama-TK and its provincial chapters, to those who chose to take the highest form of struggle, you will never be forgotten by the peasants, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples you served. Your death only sowed the seeds of a stronger struggle of the toiling masses,” the group said.