AFP: No probe set on soldiers in missing students' case for now

The military sees no reason why it should investigate the two active officers linked to the disappearance of two students and their companion five years ago, at least for the time being. According to Col. Domingo Tutaan, chief of the Armed Forces’ Human Rights Office, the two — Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and 2Lt. Francis Mirabelle Samson — will only be investigated once the Department of Justice establishes probable cause against them. “If there is probable cause and it becomes a docketed case, that’s the time we will undertake necessary action relative to the military justice system," Tutaan said on Sunday. The DOJ is currently conducting preliminary investigation to find out if Anotado and Samson had a hand in the abduction and disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, both University of the Philippines students, and their companion, farmer Manuel Merino, in 2006. The DOJ investigation is based on a complaint filed last May accusing several active and retired military officers of abducting the three. Aside from Anotado and Samson, the respondents are former 7th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac, one Arnel Enriquez, M/Sgt. Donald Caigas, and M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, who are already retired from the service. The complaint alleged that Palparan and the other respondents conspired to commit rape, serious physical injuries, arbitrary detention, maltreatment of prisoners, grave threats, and grave coercion. Tutaan said military had conducted its own investigation on the disappearance of the two UP students and their companion, but found “nothing." “We conducted investigation before but we found nothing," the official said. “The burden of proof right now is on the accuser." He, however, added that the military is “one with everybody, especially the family of the victims, in putting a just result to this." “I am not saying they are not guilty, I am not saying they are guilty. But the point is, let the court decide on it because charges were filed against them," Tutaan said of the accused soldiers. Leftist organizations had blamed the military for the abduction and killing of personalities suspected to be members or supporters of the communist movement — an accusation steadfastly denied by the Armed Forces. - KBK, GMA News