The Court of Appeals. (Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals has ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to present missing Cordillera activists Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil De Jesus.
In a resolution dated July 10, the appeals court Thirteenth Division said the separate petitions for habeas corpus are sufficient in form and substances that it required both the military and police to bring to court Capuyan and de Jesus on July 14.
A writ of habeas corpus is a remedy applicable to cases of illegal confinement or detention.
The court directs the authority to bring the person to court and justify his or her detention, failure to do so means that the detained person will be released from custody.
The families of Capuyan and de Jesus said the two were last seen last April 28 in Taytay, Rizal. They said the two were taken by men who identified themselves as PNP-CIDG operatives and were forced into separate vehicles.
Capuyan has been tagged as a communist terrorist, and his photo is included in the poster circulated by the Department of National Defense and the Department of the Interior and Local Government with a P1.8 million bounty on his head.