Mom of missing UP student still hoping, praying

Concepcion Empeño (center) and Erlinda Cadapan, mothers of missing UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan hold pictures of their daughters during a meeting with Sen. Mar Roxas. RODEL ROTONI/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Allan Macatuno | Inquirer.net

October 30, 2014

SUBIC, Philippines—With no grave to visit, the mother of Karen Empeño, one of two students of the University of Philippines missing since 2006, will observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day with hopes and prayers to find closure for her daughter’s fate.

Despite the pain, Concepcion Empeño, 65, said she has good memories with her daughter, who, along with Sherlyn Cadapan, was abducted allegedly by soldiers in Bulacan province in 2006.

Empeño, a school principal at the Culiat Elementary School in Barangay (village) Culiat in Masinloc town, Zambales province, said her daughter was “very friendly” and would always bring her friends to their house.

She said she would join other families and relatives of the missing or the disappeared on Nov. 2 at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila, to offer prayers and flowers and light candles for their loved ones.

She said they would also write Pope Francis, who will visit the country in January, to seek his help in achieving justice for their missing family members.

“I will bring a photograph of my daughter for that gathering. Although it seems like we’re doing this for the departed, still I don’t want to think that she’s gone forever,” she said. “I’m still waiting for Karen [to come home].”

Palparan’s arrogance, a coward’s mask—Desaparecidos

“I wonder where Palparan gets his arrogance. What victory has he achieved in the battlefield against the New People’s Army? All those areas where he was assigned as commander are still considered by the military as strongholds of the NPA.”
– Aya Santos, Secretary General, Desaparecidos

Press Release:

August 13, 2014

“Siya pa itong mayabang, pero sa totoo lang duwag siya! (He is arrogant, but in truth he is a coward!),” Aya Santos, Desaparesidos secretary general said referring to Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan in reaction to the latter’s “privilege” of holding a press conference yesterday at the National Bureau of Investigation.

The families of the desaparecidos and other victims of Palparan were particularly irked by his statement that what he did, the killings and abduction of unarmed civilians, was for the “good of the people”.

“He even had the nerve to say that everything he did is for the people! Ang kapal ng mukha!” said Santos. “Was it good for those who were orphaned; was it good for those tortured? Was it good for those who were molested and raped?” Santos asked.

“I wonder where Palparan gets his arrogance. What victory has he achieved in the battlefield against the New People’s Army? All those areas where he was assigned as commander are still considered by the military as strongholds of the NPA,” Santos said.

“What he and his gang in the military claim as Palparan’s achievement is the cold-bloodied killing and disappearance of unarmed civilians he victimized. What he cannot do in the battlefield, he does to those who could not fight back. It’s disgusting!” Santos said. “Coward as he is, he tried to elude arrest and escaped from his charges.”

Ret. Maj. Gen. Palparan is charged with two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention for abducting and disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in June 2006. He eluded arrest for almost three years.

Raymond Manalo, a farmer from San Ildefonso, Bulacan who was also abducted by the 56th Infantry Division, said  he met the two women during his military captivity at Camp Tecson. Manalo saw how the two women were tortured.

“Uniformed men like Palparan deserves nothing less than a conviction and the highest form of punishment. This should be done swiftly,” Santos said.

Desaparecidos calls on all survivors and families of victims of Palparan and his killer battalions to come out and tell their stories. “He should be made accountable to ALL of his and his men’s sins,” Santos said.

From the initial count, Karapatan documented 38 enforced disappearances in Central Luzon during Gen. Palparan’s reign, 12 in Eastern Visayas, and five in Mindoro.

A gathering of the Palparan’s victims is scheduled on Friday, August 15, to collectively call for Palparan’s conviction. ###

Reference: Aya Santos, secretary general

Contact Number: 09088121982/4354146

Another witness implicates soldiers in abduction of UP students

By RONALYN V. OLEA | Bulatlat.com

“Seven years quickly passed by but the progress of our case has been painstakingly slow.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen

 

MALOLOS, Bulacan – Two days before the seventh year since Karen Empeño, Sherlyn Cadapan and Manuel Merino were forcibly taken by suspected state agents, another eyewitness faced the court and swore on his account of the incident.

William C. Ramos, 61, took the witness stand, June 24 at the Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 14. The local court is hearing the charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention against retired Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. and three other men in uniform in connection with the disappearance of University of the Philippines (UP) students.

In his affidavit, Ramos said that on June 26, 2006, at around 2 a.m., several men banged the door of his house at purok 6, barangay San Miguel, Hagonoy, Bulacan. Some of the men wore Army fatigue and the others were in civilian clothes but wearing combat boots. When Ramos opened the door, two men grabbed him, tied his arms and blindfolded him. He was hit by the butt of a rifle and then forced to kneel on the ground. His son, Wilfredo, then 14 years old, was also tied.

Father and son were then dragged to the road. William stated in his affidavit in Filipino: “…my blindfold loosened. I saw armed men dragging Sherlyn Cadapan, Karen Empeño and Manuel Merino into the jeep. Sherlyn was shouting ‘Tatay, help us.’ Meanwhile, Karen Empeño was begging for mercy as the men took off her shirt and tied her and Manuel Merino was struggling as the men held him.”

One of the men told Ramos in Filipino: “Whatever you saw, just keep it to yourself because we will go back here.” Then the jeep sped away.

Ramos related that Merino stayed in his house while the two UP students spent the night at the house of his relative, Raquel Halili. Ramos said the UP students were doing a research in the area.

Ramos corroborated the statements made by the previous witnesses. His son, Wilfredo, also testified in the same court on Sept. 10, 2012. Wilfredo was able to identify one of the soldiers involved in the abduction during the preliminary investigation of the case on July 19, 2011. Three other witnesses were presented by the prosecution in court.

Two of the suspects – Col. Felipe Anotado Jr. and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio – were present during the June 24 hearing. Palparan and Master Sgt. Rizal Hilario remain at large despite a standing warrant of arrest issued by the Bulacan court.

Karen’s mother, Concepcion Empeño and Sherlyn’s parents, Erlinda and Asher Cadapan, attended the hearing.

“Seven years quickly passed by but the progress of our case has been painstakingly slow,” Mrs. Empeño told Bulatlat.com shortly after the hearing.

“In those years, many things might have happened to Karen. She would have finished her studies. She would have even been married and would have children by now,” Mrs. Empeño said. “We hold on to our memories of her.”

Mrs. Empeño expressed frustration that authorities have so far failed to arrest Palparan. “It is highly possible that the military is coddling him [Palparan]. He should face the court.”

In a statement, Lorena Santos, secretary general of Desaparecidos or Families of the Disappeared, said the charges and the hearings “mean nothing for as long as Palparan Jr. and his cohorts are free and unpunished.”

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairwoman of human rights group Karapatan, lamented, “President Aquino’s three years in office is nothing but more rights violations and continuing impunity.”