SC orders Bacolod police to present missing man, exhumations begin

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Authorities fail to show proof that the missing person left a police station after his arrest two years ago

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Police in Bacolod City have begun exhuming bodies across Negros Occidental as they search for Henry Tayo Jr., a 21-year-old who mysteriously went missing after his arrest in 2023.

The Supreme Court ordered police to produce Tayo, dead or alive, issuing a writ of amparo on November 13, 2024. The ruling was made public on March 11.

A writ of amparo is a legal remedy designed to protect individuals from threats to their life, liberty, and security, compels authorities to act on cases of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Since March 17, officers from Bacolod Police Station 8 have exhumed unidentified male bodies in public cemeteries in Handumanan, Bacolod; Ma-ao, Bago City; and the town of Murcia.

Forensic experts from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) have been tapped for DNA testing.

If none of the remains match Tayo’s, police will expand their search, said Lieutenant Colonel Joey Puerto, chief of Police Station 8. 

Pending clearance from the Department of Health, police plan to exhume two more bodies in Barangay Felisa, Bacolod.

The SC has reprimanded the Bacolod police station for failing to exercise due diligence after Tayo’s family sought assistance in 2023. 

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) are also investigating the Bacolod police personnel.

Disappearance and legal battle

Tayo was arrested in September 2023 in Purok Magsungay, Barangay Singcang-Airport, after a theft complaint from a fellow resident, Melleza Besana. Police claimed they released him after 12 hours when Besana withdrew the complaint.

Police presented a photo of Tayo signing a release order. Other than that, there was no proof that he had left the station. He has been missing since.

His family initially sought help from Bacolod police but received no updates. They later fileda case at Bacolod City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 43, which denied their petition. The SC, however, overturned the regional court’s decision, granting the family’s plea and forcing police to account for Tayo’s whereabouts.

Search and pressure

Since the ruling, Police Station 8 has faced mounting pressure.

Puerto described the search as an “immense mission” but said they would comply.

“We will do our best to find Tayo,” he said.

Bacolod City Police Director Colonel Joesresty Coronica said he was confident that the personnel of the police station would be able to comply with the SC’s order. – Rappler.com