‘Let him rot in jail’
The parents of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño – victims of Jovito Palparan – urged the government not to give special treatment to the retired military general who, along with two others, was convicted by the Malolos regional trial court yesterday.
“Not in a military camp, not in some special detention. We want him in jail, like any other criminal. Let him rot in jail,” Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeño, mothers of the two University of the Philippines student-activists who have been missing for 12 years, said as they welcomed Palparan’s conviction on two counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention.
“All victims and relatives from Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas to Central Luzon where our daughters
were abducted and disappeared, share this victory. However, this remains partial because the next question has always been, ‘Where are our children?’” the elder Cadapan said.
Speaking to the crowd that gathered outside the court yesterday, Mrs. Cadapan appealed to Army soldiers to come out and reveal the whereabouts of her and Mrs. Empeño’s daughters – dead or alive.
Victims and relatives of victims of killings, disappearances and other rights violations perpetrated by state forces in areas where Palparan was hailed as commander were jubilant yet vigilant that “The Butcher” would finally be imprisoned after so many years of enjoying impunity and special treatment.
“We are only two of the many families who are happy with the court’s decision to convict Palparan. We are thankful that the courts rec- ognized the truth in the testimonies of our witnesses, who have likewise suffered the same fate as our daughters,” Mrs. Empeño, mother of Karen, in a statement released by the Karapatan human rights group.
The elder Empeño said there remains to be justice for the poor and ordinary people, but only because of the untiring call for it and accountability from the victims themselves.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we sincerely thank everyone who have supported us in the past four years of this ordeal,” she said.
Mrs. Cadapan said this is “a victory for all the victims of Palparan.”
She stressed that the conviction is significant now that the masterminds of the government’s bloody counterinsurgency programs Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2 are back in power, particularly former president and incumbent Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Under Arroyo’s administration, when Palparan was commanding officer of different units of the Philippine Army, 206 victims of enforced disappearances were recorded. None of them have surfaced to this day.
The two mothers noted that this is considered the first time that an Army general has been convicted by a court in the country on charges filed by people like them who belong to the lower level of society.