The families of the disappeared Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus (Bazoo) and their lawyers picketed before the Supreme Court in Manila on August 14 after filing a writ of amparo and writ of habeas data in court. The families filed the petitions after the Court of Appeals dismissed their petition for the writ of habeas corpus in September 2023.

The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition last year because it said the writ of habeas data does not cover the case of the victims’ abduction.

Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police abducted Cordillera activists Capuyan and De Jesus on April 28, 2023 at night in Golden City, SM Hypermarket in Taytay, Rizal. Reports said the two were forcibly taken into two vehicles.

Since last year, human rights groups have combed military and police camps in the National Capital Region, Southern Tagalog and Baguio City in search of the two. Police and soldiers gave no information about the whereabouts of the two and they even refused to sign the “desaparecidos form,” a document stating that the victims are not in their custody.

Beverly Longid, national convener of KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, said “the abduction of Dexter and Bazoo is against their right to life, liberty, and security.” Longid further emphasized that the state forces’ persistent denial of the custody of the two intensifies the violations of their human rights.

The writ of amparo is a legal remedy for persons whose rights to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.” While the writ of habeas data will push state forces to disclose all the information it has regarding the disappeared.