By Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho
Exactly a year after being given an X-rating, “Alipato at Muog” film on desaparecidos was recognized as Best Picture by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards.
“We don’t have any speeches prepared. We don’t have lists of people to thank. We were there to be the voice of the voiceless. We were there because we have a story to tell. We were there for the desaparecidos. So when we were given the recognition, we just spoke from the heart,” says the film director JL Burgos.
On August 22, 2024. the 96-minute film “Alipato” was given the X rating classification by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)
On August 22, 2025, Burgos won Best Director along with the FAMAS’ best picture award which was also nominated in the categories of Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects.
The first MTRCB reviewers disapproved the film from public exhibition “because it tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or duly-constituted authorities.” The film was then given an R-16 rating after artists’ groups and human rights defenders decried the ban.
“They branded the documentary too graphic, too subversive, too left, among other things,” Alipato at Muog team said in a Facebook post. “ FAMAS chose our documentary as their Best Picture. We embrace this recognition. Thank you FAMAS for standing with all of us.”
The Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) said In a statement, that the reversal is a rebuke to state censorship and a reminder that truth-telling endures.
“Alipato at Muog is memory and resistance: it insists that enforced disappearances, impunity, and state violence are not footnotes but urgent, unfinished stories,” CAP said. “We congratulate JL Burgos and the team for lighting the way, so we can keep telling and retelling until justice is found.”
The film seeks to “uncover the hard truths” surrounding the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos and other desaparecidos.
Peasant activist Jonas Burgos was abducted noontime of April 28, 2007 in a crowded mall in Quezon City. He was never seen again and the military has repeatedly denied any role in his disappearance.
As his family launched their search, a car plate brought them face to face with powerful forces.
Despite insurmountable barriers, anonymous informants have dropped leads and even provided the last known photo of Jonas in captivity. Edita, the 80-year old mother, and her filmmaker son lead the long and arduous fight for justice.
Presented through testimonials of their lawyer, a reporter, a former Justice Secretary and Human Rights Commission Chair, and witnesses who agreed to appear on condition of anonymity, combined with animation and never-before-seen footage of the family’s relentless search, the documentary film weaves the stories together to uncover the truths, however painful, about the brother’s disappearance.
“But how can justice prevail when the crime is committed by the very institution that is mandated to protect its people? Where does one even turn for answers? Telling Jonas’s story is telling the story of more than a thousand victims of enforced disappearance,” Jl Burgos said.
On February 2, 2014, the Supreme Court upheld the 2013 findings of the Court of Appeals which ruled that the military and the government are responsible for the disappearance of Burgos.
The film received the Special Jury Award during last year’s Cinemalaya Independent film festival “for its effective use of the resources of documentary cinema to shed light on an actual case of enforced disappearance and reveal dark truths about human rights in the Philippines.”
The FAMAS awards came almost a week before “International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances” or “Desaparecidos Day” that is observed every August 30 annually since 2011 .
The United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights defined desaparecidos with three elements: (a) deprivation of liberty against the will of a person; (b) involvement of government officials, at least by acquiescence; and (c) refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.
Data from the human rights group Karapatan and FIND indicated that there are between 950 to 1,000 desaparecidos during the late dictator’s term, 821 during Cory Aquino’s presidency, 39 under Ramos term, 26 under Estrada administration, 206 during Arroyo term, 29 during Noynoy Aquino’s administration, and 20 under Duterte term.
Jonas Burgos is one of the 206 desaparecidos under the Arroyo administration.
“We shall continue to search for justice, spurred not by revenge, but love for others. That they may not endure the same suffering we are undergoing. If we do not speak out, there will be more victims, and those in power will stay in power, ” Edith Burgos said in an interview.
(Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-502580)
