Search for 2 missing Cordillera activists continues in Tarlac

NOT GIVING UP Forty days since activists Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus went missing in Taytay, Rizal, their families and supporters gather in front of the headquarters of the military’s Northern Luzon Command in Tarlac City on Wednesday hoping to find out if they are in held in the camp. —PHOTO COURTESY OF SURFACE DEXTER AND BAZOO MOVEMENT

TARLAC CITY—Clutching and waving paper cranes and placards, about 200 supporters of rights activists Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus and Dexter Capuyan trooped to the military’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) headquarters in Tarlac province on Wednesday to mark the 40th day of their disappearance.

The protesters, mostly members of progressive groups from the Cordillera, were joined by the families and relatives of De Jesus, 27, and Capuyan, 56, who have been searching for them in different police and military camps in the country, believing they are in the custody of state agents.

Capuyan and De Jesus were last seen in Taytay, Rizal, on April 28, where they were reportedly forced to ride separate vehicles by armed men who supposedly introduced themselves as Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) agents.

The CIDG, however, had denied allegations that it was holding the activists.

According to the protesters led by the Surface Dexter and Bazoo Movement, they were hoping that the two would be found alive.

“We unite in a gesture of peace by creating a thousand cranes and making a wish for their safe return,” the movement said in a statement.

The act of folding 1,000 origami cranes is an ancient tradition in Japanese culture that is believed to bring “good luck, longevity, and healing,” according to the group.

De Jesus’ mother Mercedita called on the public to join them in making paper cranes as part of their continuing demand for government forces to “take responsibility for their abduction and reveal the whereabouts of Dexter and Bazoo.”

At the rally, Capuyan’s younger brother Eli said they wanted to get a certification from Nolcom that the two were not in its custody. Republic Act No. 10353, or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012, requires government agencies, including the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to immediately reply in writing to a person or group inquiring about a missing person.

But Eli said they failed to get an answer, noting that Army Maj. Al Anthony Pueblas, Nolcom spokesperson, declined to fill out a form asking whether Capuyan and De Jesus were in the camp.

“Please surface my brother and Bazoo. As their families, we ought to know that they are safe,” Eli said at the rally.

Capuyan, a Bontoc-Ibaloy-Kankanaey, had been tagged by the military as a high-ranking member of the New People’s Army in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions, with a P1.85-million bounty for his capture.

The accusation against Capuyan led human rights advocates and his family to believe that he was forcibly taken by state agents. De Jesus, on the other hand, served as the information and networking officer of the Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples.

In a statement, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) assailed what it described as a “frustrating” search for Capuyan and De Jesus in police and military installations.

“None of them provided information and even failed or refused to accomplish the forms provided by the families and the legal team pursuant to RA 10353,” CHRA spokesperson Caselle Ton said.

—MARIA ADELAIDA CALAYAG

READ: Clamor to surface 2 missing Cordillera activists grows