by Evangeline de Vera
Reversing its decision, the Court of Appeals yesterday ruled there is sufficient evidence to prove that the Army’s 7th Infantry Division abducted and continues to have custody of the two University of the Philippines students and a farmer who have all been missing since June 2006.
The CA’s Special Former 11th Division, in a 33-page decision, ordered the Armed Forces to release Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, as well as farmer Manuel Merino, who were abducted allegedly by military men on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan on the ground they are members of the New Peoples’ Army.
The ruling, penned by Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, reversed the CA’s June 2007 decision dismissing the writ of habeas corpus petition filed by the families of the three missing persons based on the testimony of witness Raymond Manalo, who said he was a victim of military abduction and torture, along with his brother Reynaldo.
Manalo’s testimony was considered newly discovered evidence submitted by the petitioners upon a motion for reconsideration on account of his testimony that he and his brother saw Cadapan and Empeno during their captivity in Southern Tagalog between Feb. 14, 2006 until their escape on Aug. 13, 2007.
The CA also ordered the petitions for the issuance of a writ of amparo filed by the families of Cadapan, Empeño and Merino before the Supreme Court consolidated with the petition for writ of habeas corpus.
Named respondents in the petitions for habeas corpus and amparo were Maj. Gen. (ret.) Jovito Palparan, former commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based at Fort Magsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija; Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, former commander of the Northern Luzon Command; Lt. Francis Mirabelle Samson, commander of the Barangay Mercado Detachment in Hagonoy, and a certain Arnel Enrique.
The CA said with the additional testimony of Manalo, the petitioners have been able to prove the fact of their detention by elements of the military.
“The testimony of Raymond Manalo can no longer be ignored and brushed aside. His narration and those of the earlier witnesses, taken together, constitute more than substantial evidence warranting an order that the three be released from detention if they are not being held for a lawful cause. They may be moving from place to place but still they are considered under detention and custody of the respondents,” the CA said.
The appellate court also directed the PNP to finish its investigation into the disappearance of the three and file charges against those responsible.
The CA said the personnel of the Army’s 7th Division appeared to have “appointed themselves as protective guardians of the Republic whose precious principles, however, they have dishonored by ignoring the rights and liberties of its own citizens.”
Based on Manalo’s affidavit, six armed men in military uniform abducted him and his brother on Feb. 14, 2006 from their place in Barangay Buhol na Mangga, San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
From there, they were detained and moved from one place to another, particularly military camps and detachments including Fort Magsaysay and a detachment in Sapang, San Miguel, Bulacan, where they allegedly met Palparan.
From Sapang, Manalo was transported to Camp Tecson under the 24th Infantry Battalion, where three men loaded him in a white car.
Manalo said he was taken to what he learned later a training detachment of the Scout Rangers. He said it was in the barracks that he met Cadapan, with her feet chained to a double bed.
During their conversation, Manalo said Cadapan told him she was abducted from Hagonoy and was subjected to torture.”
After a week, Manalo was reunited with his brother who also brought to the camp, where they stayed from September 2006 until Nov. 22, 2006.
Three days after, Raymond said Empeño and Merino were also brought to the camp.
Raymond further said he saw Cadapan being subjected to torture like water treatment through nose, and electric shocks.
In its June 2007 decision, the CA merely admonished Palparan and his men at the 7th ID for withholding information and inconsistencies in their testimonies regarding the abduction and disappearance of the three.
The CA earlier dismissed the petition for habeas corpus on the ground it was not the proper remedy in the case.
The CA said the proper remedy was to initiate the filing of criminal complaints against those the families believe were responsible for the disappearance of the three.
The appeals court said it cannot yet order the prosecution of Palparan and his men due to insufficient evidence that he ordered the abduction of the victims.
To: The AFP (Armed Forces ni Pidal)
Ilabas si Jonas Burgos!
Palayain na si Sherlyn, Karen at Merino!
Ilabas si Jonas!
What is the Army’s 7th Infantry Division doing with these girls???!!!
I meant Sherlyn and Karen.
CA to AFP: Produce 2 abducted UP studes
Sundin naman kaya? E di nabisto na ang AFP ni Gloria ang may gawa.
chi,
Possibly ni-rirape na sila at gawang slave girls offering sa mga visiting generals. Wala naman pagkaiba mga outlaws at mga sundalo na gagawa sa mga bihag na chicks. Mga lalaki ay sakim sa carnal desires lalo na’t mapuputi ang mga hita.
I can’t help but think about the situations these girls were forced to do in more than two years. They are captives and have no other choice but to live under a frightening condition.
Would Yano please do something about this. Parusahan ang dapat parusahan sa kaso ng forced disappearances. Siguro naman ay hindi niya barkada ang mga nasa Army’s 7th Infantry Division.
Overheard the lighter side of the war from the handheld radio…” enemy have withdrewn and carried away their casualties. Captured an amazon..”
” …leave the amazon and pursue the enemy.”
“..but she wants to marry me…”
Suddenly from unfamiliar source “…please return the cow and the owner jeep…”
Chi,
Merino cannot be produced anymore. I think it was the Manalo brothers who said they saw Merino die under torture in Pangasinan.
Although this is good news, I don’t believe it calls for celebration. The respondents will just ignore the order unless a real threat of imprisonment is upcoming. Do you think PNP will file the case within this year? Next year? I don’t think so.
It’s all up to Yano now. So far, I think he hasn’t failed our expectations. We’ll see with this one. Then Jayjay Burgos. Then AT4.
Oplan Bantay Laya proyekto ng Imperyalistang Amerikano na niyakap ng tutang si Gloria na pinatutupad ng garapatang si Palparan.
Iyan ang ating lider.. kamatayan ng kalahi, kapalit ang pangmatagalang pagpapasasa sa Palasyo.
Silay natatakot sa mga mulat na, militanteng estudyante, lider mangagawa, magsasaka at ng masang lumalaban na simbulo ng nakararaming Pilipino.
Thanks, Tongue.
I’m already confused with so many names of victims of forced disappearances.
I pray that Jayjay is still alive and just being kept somewhere like Sherlyn and Karen.
Command responsibility ito ni gloria. She may deny responsibility by inventing another lie or shutting out her conscience. That’s what psychopaths do. Walang consensya. As one claiming to be president of the republic, she should have thoroughly investigated the disappearances. Mga kabaro niya pa mandin sina Empeno at Cadapan. But no, she chose to give lip service to all suspected to have disappeared under military or police custody. Now that the CA has ordered the AFP to produce Empeno and Cadapan, what will gloria do? She cannot sell out palparan after praising him in her SONA. Nor can she displease the military involved by selling them out. Ano kaya ang gagawin ni gloria. Sana gawin niya matino. Di naman masamang mangarap.
So far, I think this SC Chief Justice Puno is doing a good job…..
Chief Justice Reynato Puno said Friday there was “something wrong” in the government’s handing over convicted rapist Daniel Smith to United States custody.
“The best way [of] protecting our people, the sovereignty, and the judiciary is to surrender the custody of Daniel Smith [to the US]?” Puno asked Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera during oral arguments on a petition to have the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) declared unconstitutional.
“There is something wrong with this,” Puno said. “Why did you agree [to] this?”
The Chief Justice pointed out that this has never been a practice in other countries.
It is really difficult to find something you yourself are hiding. This is the situation of the AFP with regards to disappeared Empeno, Cadapan and Merino. How can the AFP find what they do not want to find. Presenting the three under their custody opens them up to numerous cases from kidnapping, torture, human rights violation, unlawful detention and many others. And if its true that Merino is dead (I hope and pray not), murder as another case. So they will find ways to not find the missing trio. Unless of course some brave and conscience stricken soldier would come forward and testify about the whereabouts of the three.
Walang pakialam talaga si gloria sa mga Filipino. Alam niya na nahaharap sa malalaking krisis ang Pilipinas, sa ekonomiya, sa Mindanao, sa malaganap na korupsyon sa gobyerno, ayan, maglalamierda sa estados unidos. Sabay iwas sa pagsagot sa kaso ng nawawalang mga kabataan at magsasaka na sina Empeno, Cadapan at Merino. Ang aatupagin seguro iyong mga investments ng pamilya niya sa estados unidos na apektado ng krisis pinansyal doon. Wala naman saysay ang mga gagawin niya doon. Binobola lang tayo ni ermita na kunway napaka-importante ng pagpunta ni gloria sa amerika. Kaya naiisip ko tuloy na sana huling pagpaalam na ni gloria ito at tuloy-tuloy na siyang maglaho.
This is very sad for Pinoy caregivers and OFWs:
A Filipino caregiver died when his 91-year-old ward shot him in a care home in Washington State in the US.
The victim was identified as Ramoncito Baro, 39, married with five children.
Baro served as a caregiver in an adult family home in Washington. He had just transferred to Washington from California.
Reports said Baro went to the room of Jay Conway Elder to feed him. However, Elder reportedly shot Baro hitting him in the chest.
He died at the St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington.
Court records stated that Elder is mentally unstable.