Today, families and friends of the disappeared led by Desaparecidos commemorate the 19th year of the disappearance of University of the Philippines activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, as well as National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Prudencio Calubid, his wife Celina Palma, companions Gloria Soco and Ariel Beloy. Their forcible disappearance incidentally occurred on the same day that the world commemorates the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Nineteen years after their disappearance, the enraging fact is that the State continues to abduct and forcibly disappear activists, political dissenters and even ordinary persons.
Witnesses point to the butcher Jovito Palparan as the mastermind behind the abduction of Karen and Sherlyn in Bulacan, their arbitrary detention, brutal torture and disappearance. Disappeared with Karen and Sherlyn were Manuel Merino, a farmer who witnessed their abduction and tried to come to their rescue.
The brutality did not end there. On that same day 19 years ago, Calubid, Palma, Soco and Beloy were abducted and disappeared in a separate incident in Camarines Sur.
Nineteen years later, we continue searching for them, and all other victims of enforced disappearance. There are currently 18 victims of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. regime. We join their families in their yearning to know the truth behind the disappearance of their loved ones so they can finally find justice and closure.
Palparan has been convicted for Karen and Sherlyn’s abduction and arbitrary detention. But he receives special treatment as an inmate at the Minimum Security Compound of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, instead of being held at the Maximum Security Compound reserved for those convicted of serious crimes. His conviction remains a token one, as no other element of the State’s security forces has been held accountable for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. A prevailing culture of impunity shields those who perpetrate enforced disappearances and other rights violations.
We continue to demand for justice and accountability on behalf of all victims of enforced disappearance and their kin. We hold Marcos Jr. accountable for the 18 victims of enforced disappearance under his watch.
As long as enforced disappearances continue, we will leave no stone unturned in searching for Karen, Sherlyn, Prudencio, Celina, Gloria, Ariel and all the other disappeared, to seek justice for them, and to work for a world where enforced disappearances are a thing of the past.