Families hope court ruling can help find Dexter and Bazoo

By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – For the kin of disappeared activists, the Court of Appeals’ (CA) decision to grant the privilege of writ of amparo to Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” De Jesus is a step forward to their call for justice and accountability.

“The Writ of Amparo means a privilege for Bazoo, Dexter, and our families’ protection. This could also lead to the truth behind their abduction and disappearance and the perpetrators’ accountability,” said Mercedita De Jesus, mother of Bazoo. 

A writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.

In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Jennifer Ong of the 16th Division on August 12, the CA found that state actors had shortcomings in investigating and observing due diligence. “Subpar investigations conducted without any subsequent consistent follow-ups and solely obtaining certifications or documents asserting that: (1) Bazoo and Dexter are not held in custody by any detention facility; or (2) there are no records or information regarding Bazoo and Dexter within their systems, merely represent substantial compliance that fail to meet the extraordinary diligence standard required under the Amparo Rule,” the CA said.

Read: Court slams again gov’t failure to find missing activists

The CA raised serious doubts about the statement of the investigating police officer, especially about his motive in depicting Dexter and Bazoo as having been voluntarily accompanied by armed men. It also flagged the omission of the testimony of a key witness, identifying the abductors as members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), stressing that this was “indicative of tolerance of, or acquiescence to, the acts said to have been committed by State agents.” 

“And for all we know, this contributed significantly to the Justices’ conclusion that the authorities did not exert all the necessary efforts regarding the case of disappearance, and there’s a motive to hide the testimonies and evidence they gathered,” Mercedita said. 

She said in a separate interview with Bulatlat that the decision is an improvement from the 2023 ruling of CA to deny the writ of habeas corpus they filed. “Now, it is clear that our son has forcibly disappeared and there is state neglect in his case.”

Had it not been the court’s proactive questioning, important documents would not have been submitted into evidence. The court said that the state forces chose to interpret the narration of the key witness in a manner favorable to their position, calling it selective and self-serving.

Eli Capuyan, brother of Dexter, said that the fight is not yet over. He said that the ruling is a victory in finding justice and the enforced disappearance of his brother. “Justice may be slow, but we will not stop until it is achieved. The road we travel is difficult, but we walk it alongside people and organizations that uphold human rights.”

Gabrielle Chuwaley Capuyan, daughter of Dexter, thanked those who stood with them throughout the search and legal proceedings. “More than two years after the enforced disappearance of my father and Bazoo, the court has now recognized that they were not simply missing, but abducted by state forces.”

Under the Marcos Jr. administration, the number of missing has reached 15. (DAA)

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