"[5] As representative to the UP student council, he was one of several student whistleblowers who published an exposé in the Philippine Collegian, forcing the UP College of Forestry to back out of a 1969 project with a foreign chemical company involving the testing of Agent Orange, a defoliant used by US Forces in the Vietnam War.

This task became increasingly difficult after Marcos imposed martial law in 1972, with Bautista having to hide their editorial office and sources of materials, as well as ensuring safe and effective distribution of the newspapers.

[1] Marcos forces eventually found and arrested Bautista in November 1973, imprisoning him at Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang, Laguna.

[5] In September 1976, Bautista was killed at age 30 after he and a number of associates from the underground had an encounter with Marcos forces in Tagkawayan, Quezon.

[3] He was honored that year alongside activists Jennifer Cariño, Armando "Mandrake" Palabay, and Jessica Sales, as well as entrepreneur Jaime V. Ongpin, and historian Renato Constantino.