CA: 2 missing activists are ‘desaparecidos’
The Court of Appeals (CA) has granted the writ of amparo in favor of two missing indigenous peoples (IP) rights advocates as it held that the police may be involved in their two-year disappearance.
In its Aug. 12 decision, the 16th Division of the appellate court declared Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz “Bazoo” De Jesus as “desaparecidos” or victims of enforced disappearance, contrary to the outcome of a police investigation into the case, which concluded that the two activists were merely “in hiding.”
The writ accords them the privilege to be protected by the state through a much deeper investigation into their disappearance after the court said the initial probe was “grossly inadequate in terms of effectiveness and depth.”
Last sighting
Capuyan, 58, a Bontoc-Ibaloi-Kankaney tribesman in the Cordilleras; and De Jesus, who is part of a task force for IP rights, have been missing since April 28, 2023.
They were last seen riding a tricycle in Golden City Subdivision in Taytay, Rizal, before being forced into a van by armed men who identified themselves as members of the “CIDG,” based on eyewitness accounts. CIDG stands for the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the main investigation arm of the Philippine National Police.
“Although the case investigators have not been able to determine the whereabouts of Bazoo and Dexter … they have yet to officially recognize them as victims of enforced disappearance,” the appellate court said in its 98-page decision penned by Associate Justice Jennifer Joy Ong, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ronaldo Martin and Ferdinand Baylon.
The CA acted on the verified petitions for the writ of amparo sought by the families of Capuyan and De Jesus in July last year. The case was remanded to the appellate court after the Supreme Court in November also issued in favor of the activists writs of amparo and habeas data as well as the temporary protection order sought by their families.
This time, however, the CA dismissed the petition for writ of habeas data after it found “no compelling reason” and “lack of factual and legal basis” to grant it.
A writ of habeas data requires the presentation in court of all the information an agency has in connection with a person or group of persons.
The respondents in the case are former PNP chief Benjamin Acorda, former CIDG director Romeo Caramat Jr., Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Major Gen. Ramon Zagala of the Civil Relations Service and other unnamed CIDG agents.
Significant step
The lawyers of the victims’ families welcomed the CA ruling as a “significant step in the search for Dexter and Bazoo.”
“While we know the road ahead remains long, this is a win not just for the families of Dexter and Bazoo, but for all indigenous rights advocates and human rights defenders,” said Ben Galil Te, one of the members of the legal team.
For Idda De Jesus, the elder sister of Bazoo, the writ of amparo is “a powerful message that justice, though delayed, will not be denied.”
“This strengthens our resolve in demanding accountability,” she added in a statement.
