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“Hope Is Also Found in the Search”: Church in the Philippines Accompanies Families of the Disappeared
At a chapel in Quezon City, Claretian priests and relatives of missing people gathered to pray, remember their loved ones and demand justice. In a country where enforced disappearances remain a concern for the United Nations, the Church offered a place of comfort and accompaniment to families who refuse to give up hope.
CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
11/3/20265 min read
The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial in Quezon City, Philippines, honors the victims of repression during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Decades later, families of the disappeared continue to demand truth and justice, supported by religious communities. Archival photograph: Judgefloro / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Some families bring flowers to a grave every November 2. Others are still waiting to learn where their loved ones are. For those families, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at Claret School of Quezon City opened its doors, becoming a place of prayer, remembrance and accompaniment.
There, surrounded by photographs of missing people, white flowers and prayers, relatives and priests gathered around a shared conviction: suffering must not lead to forgetting, and the search for truth should never have to be carried out alone.
The observance, led by Claretian priests Father Jeffrey Rasay and Father Mon Andrei Ebdani, took place on November 2, when the Catholic Church commemorates All Souls' Day. The gathering brought together relatives of people who disappeared during different periods of Philippine history, from the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to subsequent administrations.
According to LiCAS News, a gathering was held after Mass with the participation of the organizations Desaparecidos and Karapatan. Families renewed their calls for information about their loved ones' whereabouts and for accountability from those involved in their disappearances.
A Country Where Families Are Still Searching for Answers
The religious observance took place against a backdrop of continuing concern among international human rights organizations. The Philippines has a long history of enforced disappearances associated with periods of political repression, internal conflicts and allegations of abuses against human rights defenders.
Although the country enacted the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act, known as Republic Act No. 10353, in 2012, its implementation continues to face challenges, as acknowledged by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines.
Desaparecidos, an organization representing victims' relatives, reported during the commemoration that it had documented 15 cases of enforced disappearance under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has been in office since June 2022. The figure comes from the organization's own records and does not constitute an independently verified official total. Its spokesperson, JL Burgos, said families have not abandoned their search or their demands for truth and justice despite the difficulties they face.
The issue has also reached the United Nations. On March 31, 2026, UN experts sent a communication to the Philippine government concerning the alleged enforced disappearance and subsequent death of human rights defender Elena Tijamo, as well as the reported disappearances of activists Dexter Capuyan, Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus and Felix Balonzo Salaveria Jr.
The cases, which occurred between 2021 and 2024, illustrate the risks faced by people working to defend Indigenous communities, land rights and environmental causes.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had already warned in 2020 of serious human rights violations and persistent problems of impunity in the Philippines. In subsequent reports, the UN human rights system has continued cooperating with national institutions, civil society organizations and victims' relatives to strengthen investigations into abuses and mechanisms for protecting vulnerable populations.
From Dictatorship to the Present: The Wounds the Philippines Is Struggling to Heal
Enforced disappearances form part of a broader history of violence and demands for justice across the Southeast Asian archipelago. During the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., thousands of people were subjected to arbitrary detention, torture and other human rights violations. Decades later, the country continues to confront the consequences of new episodes of violence, particularly those associated with the anti-drug campaign launched under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In March 2025, as Reuters reported, Duterte was arrested by Philippine authorities at the request of the International Criminal Court and transferred to The Hague to face allegations related to crimes against humanity. During his administration, authorities acknowledged more than 6,000 deaths in anti-drug operations, while human rights organizations maintained that the actual number was considerably higher.
The proceedings against Duterte are separate from investigations into enforced disappearances, but both have placed accountability and the protection of human life at the center of public debate in the Philippines.
Nevertheless, judicial decisions have also opened new avenues for families seeking justice. In January 2026, a court of appeals ordered the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the disappearance of activist James Jazmines, who went missing in August 2024. According to The Philippine Star, the judges found sufficient evidence that he had been the victim of an enforced disappearance.
Although the ruling does not resolve the case on its own, it represents a step toward judicial recognition of his family's rights.
Faith as a Place of Encounter and Hope
Against this background, the November 2 observance took on particular significance. Participants brought photographs of their loved ones, offered flowers and shared messages in their memory. Some carried white handkerchiefs bearing the words “Let All the Disappeared Be Found,” a gesture reminiscent of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and a symbol of the perseverance of families searching for their relatives.
The gathering also offered an image different from the familiar scenes of public demonstrations. After the ceremony, relatives made paper cranes that, according to The Philippine Star, will be used in a commemorative exhibition scheduled for December. The simple gesture transformed the gathering into a collective expression of remembrance and solidarity, helping preserve the stories of those who have still not returned home.
Christian hope does not mean denying suffering or replacing justice with consolation. In his encyclical Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI recalled the profound relationship between hope and justice, emphasizing that suffering can take on a different meaning when those enduring it know they have not been abandoned.
From this perspective, the presence of Claretian priests in Quezon City illustrates a concrete dimension of the Church's mission: accompanying families, providing a place for prayer and recognizing their right to continue seeking answers.
In the Philippines, where commemorating the dead is one of the country's most deeply rooted family traditions, this year's observance served as a reminder that not every family can gather around a grave. Some continue to live with unanswered questions, memories and uncertainty. For them, a community willing to listen, a shared prayer and a Church that keeps its doors open can become signs of hope.
As long as someone continues to speak their names, accompany their families and keep the search for truth alive, the disappeared will not be consigned to oblivion.
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