Trigger warning: state violence, torture, mention of rape, sexual violence
MANILA — For 20 years, Erlinda Cadapan and Connie Empeño have been unable to sleep soundly and mourn properly because of their missing daughters Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.
The agonizing wait brought them not to a reunion but to a prison cell. They saw and stood face-to-face with the mastermind behind the abduction, Jovito Palparan Jr.
“With courage, I asked him directly: Are they still alive?” Erlinda recalled in Filipino. “He denies knowing whether Karen and Sherlyn are still alive. He said that he did not know the actions of his subordinates. But I don’t believe him.”
University of the Philippines (UP) student activists Karen and Sherlyn were abducted by soldiers under Palparan’s command in Hagonoy, Bulacan on June 26, 2006. They remain missing even if Palparan was convicted of serious illegal detention and kidnapping in September 2018.
Read: 20 years on, the monsters remain
Lawyers and victims’ families received information that Palparan was transferred to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City. The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) denied this. They were compelled to show Palparan at the New Bilibid Prison when the families went there on June 25, on the eve of Karen and Sherlyn’s 20th year of disappearance.
“They think they could fool us families, but I caught him in his own words,” Erlinda said, recalling that Palparan confirmed to her the existence of a PMA detention facility. “I am holding back my anger. If I could hurt Palparan, I would, because he has been making us suffer for a long time. We deserve to see Sherlyn and Karen on this day. But what is deeply painful and infuriating is that Palparan is the one we ended up speaking with.”
Read: Mothers of disappeared ask: Where is convicted rights violator Palparan?
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), legal counsel of the victims’ families, said that it is not enough that Palparan was presented to the families by the Bucor. They sought explanation as to why Palparan was previously allowed to be brought to PMA Baguio and for being afforded “special privileges.”
These special privileges, they said, were instances when Palparan was allowed to stay inside the Minimum Security Compound when he was supposed to stay in the Maximum Security Compound — where those convicted of heinous crimes are stationed. Palparan was also provided with regular medical care by the V. Luna Medical Center, NUPL added, noting that it is a privilege that ordinary persons deprived of liberty (PDL) are not given.
“Pushed to the wall by pressure from families of the victims and human rights groups, BuCor scrambled to bring Palparan back to the NBP. They did so just in time for the private complainants to see him in person inside the NBP,” NUPL noted.
Palparan was not convicted with the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law because the investigation and prosecution happened before the law’s passage. However, kidnapping and enforced disappearance are similar yet different because the former involves civilian perpetrators while the latter is state-enforced.
Eyewitness Raymond Manalo said that Palparan tortured Sherlyn who was pregnant by hitting her mouth and punching her breasts and stomach area until they bled.
On the other hand, Karen was stripped naked, her wrists and ankles tied, beaten. According to Manalo, she was subjected to water torture, burned with cigarettes, and sexually violated with pieces of wood.
Karapatan documented 326 human rights violations that implicated Palparan, involving more than 1,200 victims as he enforced former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s counterinsurgency policy. Human rights activists and victims’ families call him butcher.
Read: Palparan’s Path: Trail of Blood, Child Victims
“Karen could’ve been a lawyer now,” Connie said, adding that ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti was her batchmate. “Every night, I keep talking to her in my mind. It was difficult for us.”
It took a lot for their family. Karen missed the wedding of her brother, Connie said. But she also missed 20 years of her life and counting.
Peace workers Prudencio Calubid, Gloria Soco, Celina Palma, and Ariel Beloy also disappeared on June 26, 2006, the same day Karen and Sherlyn were abducted. They were travelling on a desolate road in Sipocot, Camarines Sur when their vehicle was blocked by suspected military agents. Their companion Antonio Lacno escaped.
Karapatan and Desaparecidos documented at least 1,900 victims since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Actual numbers are higher since many victims are not documented.
“Enforced disappearance is one of the worst human rights violations because it transcends to families and communities. [There is] no closure, depriving us of information even until now,” said Ma. Cristina Guevarra, secretary general of Desaparecidos.
For years, Guevarra joined various search missions with the families and human rights groups, going to military camps, police stations, hospitals, and even funeral homes. She recalled her final encounter with Karen in Philcoa, a month before her disappearance: “Kumusta?” they asked each other. Karen was meeting her parents that day. They then told each other “ingat” (stay safe).
“There is no place for silence. We will continue to search for them and clamor for justice. For them and for all who disappeared,” Guevarra said. (DAA, RVO)
Save as PDF