Members of the Katribu group and other activists staged a protest outside Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday, calling for accountability over the disappearance of indigenous peoples’ rights defenders.

The demonstrators said they were marking the third year since the alleged abduction of Dexter Capuyan and Bazoo De Jesus, who were last seen in April 2023 in Tanay, Rizal.

The group said the two were allegedly accosted at gunpoint by armed men who identified themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Protesters urged the government and security forces to take responsibility for what they described as enforced disappearances involving indigenous activists.

As part of the demonstration, some participants carried out symbolic acts, including spray-painting images of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the logos of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and CIDG.

The materials were later affixed to the gate of Camp Aguinaldo, along with printed photos of Capuyan and De Jesus.

In August last year, a court rejected the PNP’s assertion that the two activists had left voluntarily, ruling instead that they were taken against their will.