Palparan aide denies link to disappearance of 2 UP students

An Army staff sergeant implicated in the abduction and disappearance of two University of the Philippines student activists in 2006 on Wednesday denied the accusations lodged against him. In a three-page counter-affidavit he personally submitted to a Justice Department panel of prosecutors, Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio said he was only assigned as security aide to retired Major General Jovito Palparan at a DOJ hearing in July. Palparan is the key suspect in the abductions of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in June 2006. "I was never instructed nor under the direct command and control of [Palparan] in any given time. Worth noting, I met [Palparan] only when I was detailed to secure his safety at the DOJ hearing on 19 July 2011," said Osorio. He added he was never assigned to the Army's 7th Infantry Battalion, the unit that allegedly carried out the abductions. "I have no participation in the alleged rape, serious physical serious injuries, arbitrary detention, maltreatment of prisoners, grave threats, grave coercion, and violation of Republic Act No. 7438 [An Act Defining the Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained, or Under Custodial Investigation] on Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño," said Osorio. "My military assignments will ultimately show that I have no participation in the alleged disappearances of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno," he added. Osorio noted that from May to July 2006, he was assigned to the Army Personnel Management Center based in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City. Cadapan and Empeño had been missing since June 2006. Osorio added that he has never met Cadapan and Empeño throughout his military career and that he he has no "direct or indirect knowledge whatsoever on their alleged disappearnces." Osorio also turned the tables on the complainants' witnesses, Alberto Ramirez and Wilfredo Ramos, whom he accused of engaging in a "fishing expedition in their malicious imputation that I was one of the persons involved in the incident." 'Weak defense' On the other hand, the lawyer for the mothers of Cadapan and Empeño said that Osorio's denial will not hold water compared with Ramos' positive identification that Osorio was among the men who took part in the 2006 abduction. "The cardinal rule on evidence is that alibi is the weakest defense, especially if there is a postiive categorical identification. An alibi is very increduluous in the face of a very positive identification by an eye witness," said lawyer Edre Olalia. Olalia added he is not surprised that there is no paper work to attest that Osorio was among the military personnel who participated in the abduction. "So these records, assuming for the sake of argument they are true, they do not mean he could not be involved because precisely, these operations are covert. They are not covered by paper work. Of course, how can you imagine an operation to abduct or kill somebody to be covered by paperwork?" he asked. — RSJ, GMA News