Relatives of missing activists appeal to Supreme Court for protective writs

MANILA, Philippines — Families of missing indigenous peoples rights activists in the Cordillera region filed for protection with the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Family members of Dexter Capuyan and Gene “Bazoo” de Jesus submitted writs of amparo and habeas data to the high court, hoping to locate their missing relatives.

“Naniniwala kami na buhay pa si Dexter at si Bazoo somewhere or being held in custody somewhere,” Tony La Viña, the legal counsel for the families, said at a street press conference in front of the Supreme Court building in Ermita, Manila.

(We believe that Dexter and Bazoo are still alive somewhere or are being held in custody somewhere.)

“‘Di namin alam kung saan, hindi namin alam kung sino…pero alam namin, tiyak namin na galing ito sa estado,” he added. 

(We don’t know where, we don’t know who… but we know, we are certain, that this comes from the state.)

A writ of amparo protects individuals whose right to life, liberty, or security is violated or threatened by unlawful acts of public officials, employees, or private entities.

A writ of habeas data, on the other hand, protects a person’s right to control information against them that was illegally obtained. 

These are the same protective writs requested by environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro, who were abducted by the military in September 2023. However, the Court of Appeals denied their petition for “failure to establish their claims as substantial evidence.”

Capuyan and De Jesus have been missing since April 2023. They are suspected of having been abducted by state forces due to their involvement in human rights work, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Prior to their disappearance, one of the activists was red-tagged by the government. 

Capuyan, 56, was among more than 600 individuals named in the Department of Justice’s 2018 petition to proscribe the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.

The list was eventually narrowed to eight individuals, excluding Capuyan, which led to the court's dismissal of the petition.

Authorities have also placed a P1.85 million bounty on Capuyan's arrest for two counts of murder, according to Amnesty International.

Meanwhile, De Jesus is a staff member of the Philippine Task Force on Indigenous Peoples Rights, working with Indigenous Peoples who are sometimes tagged by the government as communist sympathizers.

He graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of the Philippines - Baguio City, where he held leadership roles as the chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Students and the UP Baguio Council of Leaders before completing his studies in 2016.

The disappearance of Capuyan and De Jesus is among several cases of enforced disappearances of activists.