Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” De Jesus & Dexter Capuyan

Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” De Jesus left his home in Malolos, Bulacan, in the morning of April 27, 2023, to apply for the renewal of his passport in Metro Manila and run some errands in nearby Taytay, Rizal.

In the night of April 28, 2023, several men wearing the insignia of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (CIDG-PNP) abducted De Jesus and his companion Dexter Capuyan while they were travelling by tricycle to the Golden City Subdivision in the municipality of Taytay. Shortly beforehand, De Jesus had messaged a colleague, telling him he was stopping at a supermarket. He and Capuyan have not been seen or heard from since.

De Jesus worked as a media officer for the organization Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (TFIP), while Capuyan was an activist and community representative in the Cordillera region of northern Philippines.

According to the tricycle driver (whose name and testimony only became known to families two years later), two white vans blocked the road shortly before they reached their destination. Several unknown men, who identified themselves as CIDG-PNP officers to the driver, pulled De Jesus and Capuyan from the tricycle and forced them into separate vehicles. The tricycle driver informed the security guard at the entrance to the residential community of the abduction and also told several fellow tricycle drivers. However, the security guard did not record the incident in her logbook.

The families of the two victims, together with several human rights organizations, immediately launched a search effort and filed reports with the relevant barangay authorities, the Taytay police, and the Rizal Police Provincial Office. The CHR Regional Office IV conducted an investigation, but closed the case in September 2023, citing insufficient evidence. It was only through a Taytay police investigation report from November 2024, which the families did not receive until 2025, that the tricycle driver’s testimony confirming the two men’s disappearance came to light. Despite the new evidence, the CHR has still not reopened its investigation.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court granted De Jesus and Capuyan two special court orders: a writ of amparo and a writ of habeas data*. In August 2025, the Court of Appeals upheld their entitlement to protection under the writ of amparo. The court recognized both men as victims of enforced disappearance, finding that the measures taken by the police and military to find them had been “completely inadequate in terms of both effectiveness and thoroughness.” De Jesus and Capuyan remain missing to this day.

* The writ of amparo is a legal remedy and a form of protection available to any person whose right to life, liberty, or security has been violated or is under threat. The writ of habeas data protects an individual’s right to privacy against the unlawful collection, storage, or use of personal data.

The AMP published a statement on the case of Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” De Jesus & Dexter Capuyan:

Download (PDF): AMP-Statement: Human rights defenders keep disappearing under Philippines’ Marcos Jr. 2025

The case is also featured in the 2026 AMP Human Rights Report (published in autumn 2026).

Update: Augist 19, 2026