Desaparecidos welcomes the Supreme Court resolution granting a temporary protection order for the families of missing activists Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus.
In an en banc resolution dated September 9, 2024 but made public only on November 22, 2024, the Supreme Court prohibited public respondents PNP chief Benjamin C. Acorda Jr., CIDG chief PMGen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr., AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo S. Brawner. AFP CRS chief Mgen. Ramon P. Zagala and AFP 1st Civil Relations Group chief Maj. Al Anthony B. Pueblas; as well as private respondents Lorraine Marie T. Badoy-Partosa and Jeffrey Luces Celiz and elements under their command from going within a radius of one kilometer of Idda de Jesus-Tiongco (sister of Bazoo de Jesus), Gabrielle Capuyan (daughter of Dexter Capuyan) and their immediate families while the Court of Appeals conducts summary hearings on the Capuyan and De Jesus families’ petitions for writs of amparo and habeas data.
The motions for protective writs are the Capuyan and De Jesus families’ second attempt to ferret out the truth about the disappearance of their loved ones, who were abducted on April 28, 2023 in Tanay, Rizal by armed men who claimed to be CIDG elements. The families’ earlier petition for a writ of habeas corpus was denied by the Court of Appeals in September 2023.
“We hope that this time around,” said Desaparecidos secretary general Ma. Cristina Guevarra, “the Court of Appeals will rule in favor of the victims.“ Other victims of abduction like Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, and other human rights defenders and their organizations like Karapatan, Gabriela and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines who have suffered extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, unjust arrests and detention aside from being threatened, harassed and intimidated by suspected state agents, have had their motions for protective writs denied.
“Aside from their petitions falling on deaf ears,” said Guevarra, “families of victims of enforced disappearance tend to be ignored or shunted from one agency to another, as they try to search for their missing loved ones.”
“A strong people’s movement that promotes and protects human rights remains their strongest ally in their continuing struggle for closure, justice and accountability,” she concluded.