Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 16) – The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday denied that they arrested University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio alumni and indigenous peoples’ (IP) rights activists Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus and Dexter Capuyan.
“When the two were first reported missing, the PNP immediately exerted diligent effort to locate the whereabouts of these missing individuals in faithful compliance with our duty to serve and protect the people,” it said.
“Until today, they remain listed as missing persons and subject to follow-up searches thru backtracking from the time they were last seen,” it added.
De Jesus, a 27-year-old information and communication officer of the Philippine Task Force for IP Rights, and Capuyan, a 56-year-old activist based in La Trinidad, Benguet have been missing since April after reportedly meeting at a mall in Taytay, Rizal.
READ: UP urges gov’t to locate, uphold rights of missing alumni
The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance claimed that the two were detained by state security units over an alleged ₱1.8 million bounty for Capuyan due to supposed communist links, according to a statement by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) last May.
The CHR also noted that the Rizal police denied having custody of De Jesus and Capuyan. The CHR said it was conducting an investigation into the matter.
The PNP said several of its units have certified that De Jesus and Capuyan were “neither among the list of Persons Under Police Custody nor can they be found within any PNP facilities.”
“At any rate, a habeas corpus case was filed and is currently being heard by the 13th division of the Court of Appeals. The PNP is set to file its return of the writ on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.”
READ: Families of missing UP alumni seek help from Court of Appeals
The PNP added that it is confident that “the subsequent hearings set on August 3 and 10 will shed more light on the matter and will finally be ruled in favor of the PNP.”
AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar also denied that the two activists were under military custody.
“Wala sa custody ng military [They are not in military custody] although we have yet to respond to the writ of habeas corpus ng korte [of the court] but we don’t have in our possession ‘yung hinahanap na dalawa [the two persons they are looking for],” he told media.
The AFP said it would aid in locating De Jesus and Capuyan.
“Since they are also Filipinos and they are reported to be missing, then it is our constitutional duty to look for them…We will do our best also to help locate ‘yung dalawang missing na ‘yun [the two missing individuals],” Aguilar said.
Aguilar added that the AFP is verifying information about the status of the two, and claimed that the military had information linking Capuyan to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
