From #BulatlatArchives, know what happened since the abduction of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño until the trial of retired Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr.
“They are using public funds to finance the phalanx of soldiers and police to provide security detail to Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. That money should have been spent somewhere else.”
“Even during the time he claimed to have been going through physical therapies, he remained as the commanding officer of the 24th Infantry Battalion. The places where the two students were brought were under his jurisdiction. Anotado was in active military service and such testimony will bear no weight to the case compared to Raymond’s testimony.”
“To call it a ‘long overdue decision’ is an understatement. Raymond Manalo has been denied justice many times over, and this Ombudsman decision, while it establishes accountability through prosecution of Palparan et al, is also a testament to the failings of the current justice and social system.”
“Amidst the din and reverie of the past holidays and some mercurial election inanities, we were glad to learn that the trial court correctly denied Gen. Palparan's delusional bid to be granted bail.”
“He spoke with a forked tongue even on the witness stand, and remorselessly justified his worn-out anti-communist bigotry to sanction his and his men’s actions amounting to heinous rights violations and crimes against humanity.”
Judge Alexander Tamayo said he could go through the case files “all in a day’s work.”
“We are here today to show that after nine years, the calls of UP students and other sectors to surface Karen, Sherlyn and all the other victims of human rights violations, are not stopping.”
Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeño, mothers of missing UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, looked at the crowd of students and activists listening intently at the program and said, “They would have been among them today, resisting and fighting for the country.”
“The mere fact that such safe houses existed further proves that there are ‘unofficial’ military camps where people are held incommunicado and deprived of their rights.”
Soldiers turned off the light and then kicked him, causing his blindfold to be removed. When the light was turned on again, he finally saw “Lolo,” whom he later identified as Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.
For the the mothers of the disappeared, the silliest question was when the defense lawyer asked if Raymond Manalo has photos or videos of himself, along with the two UP students, to prove his statements.
“They were given two years to present their witnesses. But they failed.. I wonder where they are going to get their witnesses now.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño
“To support a choice of detention facility – as with any other decision in life – there must be validated, adequate, relevant, and objective data. To invoke demons and ghosts from the past, real or imaginary, to avoid the Spartan conditions, rigors and limitations of an ordinary civilian jail – and get away with it with impunity – is to thumb one's nose against the justice system.” – National Union of Peoples Lawyers, in a motion for Palparan’s transfer
"By June next year, it would be the eighth year since Sherlyn disappeared. I am looking for my daughter. Her life is at stake here. This should be urgent." – Mrs. Erlinda Cadapan
"The prosecution thus far had shown that evidence of guilt against the accused for said crimes is strong." -- Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 14
“We have gone to the courts. We have followed the government’s slow judicial process and still, we have not found our daughters.”
“Seven years quickly passed by but the progress of our case has been painstakingly slow.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen
"Our evidence is strong. The suspects were positively identified, again and again, by our two main witnesses.” – Julian Oliva Jr., counsel of the families
Adoracion Paulino, mother-in-law of missing UP student Sherlyn Cadapan, had a lot of questions when Sherlyn suddenly appeared in her house, being guarded by three women and two men, but Sherlyn did not answer her queries.
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