DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Labor groups and family of missing labor union organizer William Lariosa marked the second anniversary of his disappearance with a rally where they demand accountability from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Lariosa, a 63-year-old organizer affiliated with the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), was last seen on April 10, 2024 in a plantation village in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon. Eyewitness told family members that Lariosa was forcibly taken during a military operation.
The 48th Infantry Battalion that conducted the operation had denied knowledge and custody of Lariosa.
Courts have also denied the family’s petition to compel the military to surface Lariosa, saying their claim was based on hearsay.
READ: https://davaotoday.com/human-rights/a-familys-search-for-an-abducted-union-organizer/
The family gathered in a rally last April 9 at Davao City’s Freedom Park with the Surface Willian Lariosa Network. Marklen, Lariosa’s son, spoke in the rally saying that in the past two years, the family remain steadfast in finding the truth, urging authorities to surface his father and reveal the truth about his disappearance.
Marklen said that the loss of his father is beyond personal as he points out that enforced disappearances of activists and rights defenders have haunted other families.
“Our father’s disappearance is not only a personal pain, but a violation of human rights—a crime that should not be forgotten. Enforced disappearance is a case where a person is deprived of the right to live, the right to security, and the right to freedom,” he said .
“We are not the only victims. There are many families like us who are suffering, and despite the pain we are going through, we will not stop searching for him and for justice,” he added.
Rights group Karapatan showed that there are at least 14 cases of enforced disappearances of activists in the country from July 2022 — the start of the Marcos Jr. administration — to November 2025.
Labor unions and human rights groups stressed that the persistence of such cases points to gaps in accountability and protection of marginalized sectors, particularly in areas marked by militarization and agrarian conflict.(davaotoday.com)
