Army maintains UP activists not in their custody

(Updated 7:56 p.m.) The Philippine Army on Tuesday maintained that the two University of the Philippines (UP) student activists whom the Supreme Court (SC) asked them to release are not in their custody. "Kung nasa amin yan (If they really are in our custody) we have no recourse but to oblidge with the order of the court, ang problema e hindi namin alam kung nasan ito (but the problem is we don't know where they are)," Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade told reporters. Parlade issued his remark after the high tribunal asked the military to release UP student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño and their companion, Manuel Merino. The decision was made even if the military has repeatedly denied having the three under its custody. "Sino ngayon ang pwede naming irelease na wala nga sa poder ng Phil. Army itong sinasabi nilang kinidnap ng Phil. Army (Who can we release when those who we supposedly kidnapped are not with us)," he said. Parlade likewise said they have to conduct their own inquiry on the incident which transpired five years ago. "Matagal na kasing itong kasong ito... alangan namang kami ang umamin ngayon retired na yung mga taong involved (This is a very old case, we can't take the blame for this. Even those who were supposedly involved have retired)," he said. In June 2006, Cadapan, Empeño, and Merino were abducted by suspected military men in Hagonoy, Bulacan on suspicion that they were members of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. SC ruling bolsters case vs. Palparan The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), counsel for the mothers of the missing activists, meanwhile said that the recent SC ruling fortifies criminal case they filed against former military chief Jovito Palparan and five other respondents. Lawyer Ephraim Cortez, NUPL assistant secretary-general for legal services, said the SC decision in effect identifies Palparan and his subordinates as the persons liable for the disappearance of the two UP students. “By pointing to them as the persons liable for the disappearance of the two students, the Court itself gave credence to the charge of arbitrary detention of the two students against Palparan et al. The SC thus submitted ‘probable cause’ in the criminal case against the accused," he said in a statement. The mothers of Cadapan and Empeño filed the case against Palparan before at the Department of Justice last May. The other respondents are Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac (commanding officer of the 56th Infantry Battalion), Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado (commanding officer of the 25th Infantry Battalion), 2Lt. Francis Mirabelle Samson, Arnel Enriquez, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, and other members of the military. In their complaint, the mothers of the victims accused Palparan and his subordinates of conspiracy over the alleged rape, torture, and illegal detention of Cadapan and Empeño. "While the abduction of Sherlyn and Karen were carried out by the unnamed elements of the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, it was clearly established that they were detained under the custody of the 24th Infantry Battalion and were tortured and raped by and under the knowledge and order of [Caiagas and Hilario]," read the complaint. — with Andreo C. Calonzo/RSJ/KBK GMA News