A human rights worker in the region has been reported missing since Saturday.
Honey Mae “Hanimay” Suazo, former secretary general of Karapatan – Southern Mindanao, was last seen in Panabo, Davao del Norte.
Police Major Ernesto Gregore, the chief of Panabo police station, said he has already coordinated with other police stations to help locate the victim.
Suazo’s sister, Girlie Melody Idul Acido, told police that her sister left home early Saturday morning to pay a visit to departed loved ones in Panabo, Davao del Norte.
Suazo, a resident of Villa Grande in Toril, was last seen onboard a tricycle from the cemetery.
In a phone interview, Suazo’s mother, Milagros Idul, 62, a retired teacher, said her daughter, on Friday, asked permission to visit the tomb of her partner’s parents in Panabo.
On Saturday, Idul said they chatted on Messenger until 1:03 p.m. that her daughter told her that she would be going home on Sunday, Nov. 3.
“On Nov 3, I went online to check on Hanimay but she never messaged me… there was no reply,” the mother said. “I also messaged her even on her cellphone but still got no reply.”
Idul said it’s very unusual that she’s not online because she’s an online English teacher.
The mother said Melody also contacted her sister but also got no reply.
“Because we can’t contact her that time, we’re afraid so we decided to go to Panabo Police Station and reported that she was missing,” Idul said. They also reported the case to Bunawan Police Station.
Idul said Suazo left Karapatan almost two years ago.
“We pleaded her (to leave the group) for her daughter’s sake,” the mother said.
During her Karapatan stint, Suazo experienced harassment from the military.
Suazo was among the 15 human rights activists who were charged with kidnapping and illegal detention of indigenous people evacuees encamped at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran compound here. These charges were dismissed by the Department of Justice on 2016.
