Human rights groups on April 28 renewed calls for accountability over enforced disappearances, saying the practice persists across administrations despite existing laws and legal remedies.
“Today, the 28th of April 2026, on the anniversary of the forcible disappearance of activists Jonas Burgos, Dexter Capuyan, and Gene Roz Jamil ‘Bazoo’ de Jesus, DESAPARECIDOS and KARAPATAN renew their calls that they be surfaced and those responsible for their disappearance held accountable,” the groups said.
The commemoration comes as families of the disappeared continue to search for answers years after their loved ones were taken, with no confirmed whereabouts and no perpetrators held accountable.
Jonas Burgos was abducted by state agents in broad daylight from a restaurant in Quezon City on April 28, 2007. His case is among 206 enforced disappearance cases documented by KARAPATAN during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus were taken on April 28, 2023, in Taytay, Rizal, by men who claimed to be operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. They are the 10th and 11th victims among 17 cases documented under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to the groups.
“All the efforts taken so far by their families and human rights organizations to ascertain their whereabouts have not been successful,” DESAPARECIDOS and KARAPATAN said.
The groups said enforced disappearance has persisted since the martial law period, when more than 700 activists and dissenters were reported missing.
“The crime of enforced disappearance has been a bane, especially since the martial law regime, when more than 700 activists and dissenters went missing,” they said.
They noted that the passage of Republic Act No. 10353, or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act, has not prevented new cases.
“It has never served as a deterrent against perpetrators of enforced disappearance because of the prevailing culture of impunity that has shielded State forces or entities under their command from ever facing accountability,” the groups said.
Even court-issued protective writs and orders directing authorities to exercise diligence have yet to result in the surfacing of victims, the groups said. They also pointed to the government’s continued refusal to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
“This is not surprising, given that enforced disappearance has long been one of the means resorted to by despotic Philippine regimes to silence dissent and instill fear among the populace,” they said.
The most recent reported case is Scarlet Lyne Gayo, described as a staff member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Cagayan Valley, who went missing on Dec. 9, 2025, in Cavite while on medical leave.
Other victims documented in recent years include activists, farmers, labor organizers and Indigenous people from various parts of the country.
“DESAPARECIDOS and KARAPATAN vehemently condemn the despicable crime of enforced disappearance that has long been a tool of repressive regimes, and which Ferdinand Marcos Jr. perpetuates to this day,” the statement said.
“We renew our demand for the truth about the disappearances of Jonas, Dexter and Bazoo and all other victims of enforced disappearance and expresses our unwavering solidarity with their families in the relentless pursuit of justice for them and accountability for the perpetrators.”
