EDITORIAL — Close the book

Yesterday an anniversary of an infamous yet historic Cebu City event came and went, perhaps forgotten by many.

It was on July 11, 1985 when Fr. Rudy Romano was abducted in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City, allegedly by members of the military. He was never seen again and is now presumed long dead.

Fr. Romano, a priest of the Redemptorist Order, was an activist and often spoke out against human rights violations as well as injustices committed against the poor. He was also a leader of the anti-Marcos movement and the vice president for the Visayas of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.

And while abductions and disappearances were rife during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., especially during the martial law years, this abduction was particularly shocking when you consider how much respect Filipinos from all walks of life normally accord their men of the cloth.

The fact that he also belonged to a religious order that was founded and based abroad also made his case one that became of interest in other countries. While we cannot measure emotion, we can say with certainty that his disappearance spurred the anti-Marcos movement even more at the time.

The incident happened during the term of Marcos Sr. and while rumors had it that the government was behind the disappearance of Fr. Romano --though not necessarily under the orders of the then president himself-- it would close the book, so to speak, if the case were somehow solved during the term of his son, current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

With the 37th anniversary of the incident last year, Marcos Jr. was still 11 days in office, not much he could do. But now with more than a year in office he surely knows his way around now.

This is a mystery that has long hounded Cebuanos and one that has given birth to many conspiracy theories, none of them flattering to those serving in the government or the military at the time.

And while Marcos Jr. is definitely in no obligation --moral or otherwise-- to do so, his putting a period on this story may even heal many mental and emotional scars that some people still bear as a result of that tumultuous chapter in our history.