Human rights alliance KARAPATAN acknowledges the decision by the Court of Appeals 16th Division dated August 12, 2025 granting the privileges of the writ of amparo filed by the families of two missing former Cordillera-based activists Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus. The Court ruled that Capuyan and de Jesus are victims of enforced disappearance. In the same ruling, the Court dismissed their petition for a writ of habeas data.
The petitions for writs of amparo and habeas data were filed on July 3, 2024 by Capuyan’s daughter and the sister of de Jesus. Among those impleaded in the petitions were police chief Benjamin Acorda Jr., CIDG director Romeo Caramat Jr., and AFP chief of staff Romeo Brawner.
Dexter and Bazoo were abducted on the night of April 28, 2023 in Taytay, Rizal by armed men aboard two vans who blocked the path of the tricycle they were riding. Upon receiving reports on their abduction, KARAPATAN accompanied and assisted the families of the two, and conducted fact-finding and search missions in Rizal, Laguna, Tarlac, Benguet, Baguio City, and at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
In its urgent appeal to government agencies and the public published on May 13, 2023, KARAPATAN said that “(I)n the course of the search, however, family members and those assisting them were able to receive reports that on the evening of April 28, at least two vehicles blocked the tricycle ridden by two persons matching the descriptions of Capuyan and De Jesus. The two were forced into separate vehicles by men who introduced themselves as elements of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).”
This key information that KARAPATAN was able to obtain as early as May 2023 has been the basis of its strong assertion that State security forces are responsible and accountable for the abduction and enforced disappearance of Capuyan and de Jesus, aside from our evidence-based analysis on trends of cases of enforced disappearance and other human rights violations.
The seemingly dismissive responses of police and military officials approached by the families of Capuyan and de Jesus regarding this information, and what have been unearthed during the CA hearings including the affidavits executed by witnesses and the failure of the respondent government officials to exercise extraordinary due diligence, all point to one significant conclusion – that there is a deliberate attempt to conceal the main role of the State security forces in the abduction and enforced disappearance of Capuyan and de Jesus.
Even the Court of Appeals has surmised that the police exclusion of a key witness’ testimony on the armed individuals who abducted de Jesus and Capuyan as CIDG members is “indicative of tolerance of, or acquiescence to, the acts said to have been committed by State agents.” The CA also said that “(H)ad it not been for the Court’s pro-active questioning, these critical documents (Memorandum by police investigator and Affidavit by witness) have not been submitted in evidence at all, which raises substantial concerns regarding the thoroughness of the inquiry conducted by the OSG respondents, to wit…”
There have been countless court rulings regarding the poor conduct of investigations on State actors on human rights violations cases. KARAPATAN asserts that the State’s failure to exercise extraordinary diligence in investigations on cases of enforced disappearance should not be viewed merely as a crime of omission. There is deliberate intent to whitewash the investigation to evade the question of State policy on abducting and forcibly disappearing individuals perceived as “enemies of the State” and full accountability.
Under the Marcos Jr. regime, there are 15 desaparecidos who remain missing to this date. Extrajudicial killings, torture, illegal or arbitrary arrests and detention, forced or fake surrenders and other gross human rights and international humanitarian law violations have been committed with impunity by the military and police, who take their cue from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s blueprint of fascist terrorism. It is this draconian policy, as currently embodied by the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development, that puts into motion such gross violations.
With this and the CA decision, KARAPATAN demands that Capuyan and de Jesus should be immediately surfaced by the PNP, AFP and the NTF-ELCAC. President Marcos Jr., as the chair of the NTF-ELCAC, should be fully made accountable for the enforced disappearance of Capuyan, de Jesus and all desaparecidos under his administration.