Desaparecidos (Families of the Disappeared for Justice) welcomes the Supreme Court’s grant of a petition for certiorari filed by the family of missing labor organizer William Lariosa, who was abducted and forcibly disappeared in April 2024 in Bukidnon.
In a resolution dated July 8, 2026, the Supreme Court directed the respondents—the 48th and 60th Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army (IBPA) and the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, among others—to submit their comments on the Lariosa family’s petition.
Filed in October 2025, the Lariosas’ petition seeks to challenge earlier rulings by lower courts denying their petitions for the protective writs of amparo, habeas data and habeas corpus.
A habeas corpus petition filed by Lariosa’s wife has been denied by a court in Malaybalay City and the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cagayan de Oro City, even if the family was able to present witnesses attesting to the labor leader’s abduction. Petitions for writs of amparo and habeas data, which are remedies available to persons whose rights to life, liberty, security and privacy have been violated and threatened, have also been denied at the level of the CA, leaving the Lariosa family no choice but to elevate their petition to the Supreme Court.
It is not only the Lariosas who have been denied justice by the courts. Abduction victims Francisco “Eco” Dangla, Axielle “Jak” Tiong, Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano have also had their petitions for protective writs denied by the courts who expressed doubt about their narratives.
But even in cases where the protective writs have been granted, these have been inutile in guaranteeing protection for the victims and their families. Relatives of Elgene Mungcal, one of the first victims of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. regime, reported that their family continued to receive unwanted visits from the police even after the issuance of a writ of amparo by the Supreme Court. Cora Jazmines, the wife of missing activist James Jazmines, also reported being visited at her home by a police operative who went there on the pretext of inquiring about the status of the case months after the Court of Appeals issued a writ of amparo for her missing husband.
Lariosa is the 12th victim of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. regime. Aged 63 years old at the time of his disappearance, he was a member of the Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao Region, and focused on organizing plantation workers. He was arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared by elements of the 48th IBPA during a military operation in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon on April 24, 2024.
