Military accused of kidnapping 2 UP studes, farmer in Bulacan

The student council of the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman on Friday accused the military and the Arroyo administration of abducting two youth activists and a farmer in Bulacan. The accusation was hurled by Juan Paolo Alfonso, chairman of the school's University Student Council (USC), who also demanded the immediate release of UP students Karen Empeño, Sherlyn Cadapan and farmer Manuel Merino. The abduction of Empeño was included in their impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed before the House of Representatives last Thursday. "We hold the military and the Arroyo regime responsible for this inhuman and unjust abduction and liable for any further damage that will happen to them," Alfonso said in a statement posted on the Kilusan website. Alfonso recounted several cases of killings and human rights violations in Central Luzon, particularly after the assignment of controversial Army Major Gen. Jovito Palparan to the area. "Arroyo's all-out war spares no one in her helpless attempt to quash the opposition. But we will spare no time and effort to make sure that she pays hell. We call on every UP student to stand firm in our principles and action's against this regime. It was distressed by the recent moves of opposition in this university. And it has definitely placed us in it’s quash list. But we will never be intimidated," he said. According to Alfonso's statement, armed men harassed and abducted last June 26 Empeño, Cadapan and Merino in San Miguel village in Hagonoy, Bulacan. The two UP students were then in Bulacan researching farmers' situation in Central Luzon. Cadapan, who was reportedly pregnant at the time of the abduction, is a triathlete from the UP-College of Human Kinetics (CHK). She was her college's former representative to the USC and was also a community organizer of the left-leaning group Anakbayan. Empeño is a sociology student of the UP-College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) and is also a member of the League of Filipino Students (LFS). Community reports reaching Alfonso said six armed men wearing black ski masks forced the three out of the house where they were residing. Merino was bound while the two students were forcibly dragged outside. They said that the unidentified men had introduced themselves as "vigilantes" when the three were kidnapped. 'YOUNG REBELS' For his part, Palparan described the three missing persons as members of the New People's Army (NPA), the armed faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). "Their disappearance is good for us but as to who abducted them, we don't know. That's good for us because they are NPAs, that is what the people [in the area] are saying. They have been dominating in the area long ago," said Palparan of the three victims. Palparan, currently commander of the Army's 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, said the media was free to speak with Hagonoy folk to verify the authenticity of his claims. "They are really NPAs, I have talked to a number of residents in the area and they claimed that they (victims) are communist guerillas," said Palparan. He added, however, that the residents were not willing to testify for fear of rebel reprisals. The three, Palparan claimed, were members of a group which had tried to wrestle control of several fishponds from local residents in Hagonoy. They also allegedly hired several workers to tend to the fishponds. Palparan, however, admitted that he has no information if soldiers were indeed involved in the kidnap incident. "We have no report on that. I'm not sure if soldiers were really involved because we have no report. But we are going to look into it because our soldiers are being implicated. As to who abducted them (victims), we are going to find out," he said. Activist groups have repeatedly blamed Palparan for the murder and disappearance of their members in the countryside, especially central Luzon and Mindoro Island where the Army commander had served at one time or another. Palparan earlier promised to wipe out the insurgency problem in Central Luzon before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56 this September. MOTHER'S GRIEF In a phone interview, Empeño’s mother, Concepcion, told GMANews.TV that her daughter was completing her thesis while working as a research volunteer of the Aniban ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB), a provincial group of farmers. "I hope her abductors free her. She had nothing but good intentions in doing her work," Mrs. Empeña said in Filipino. Mrs. Empeña last saw Karen on the second week of November 2005 in their home. She last talked to Karen over the cellular phone on June 7 while her daughter was reportedly in Balanga, Bataan, about 120 kilometers north of Manila, for other research work. Mrs. Empeña said Karen was also completing her thesis while doing volunteer work with the AMB. Karen was last officially enrolled in UP for school year 2003 to 2004, the mother said. "Karen did nothing wrong. I want to see her alive," Mrs. Empeña said, adding that she would travel to Manila Saturday to seek help from human rights groups to find her daughter. Karen is the third of five children of the Empeñas, residents of the village of Sta. Rita village in Masinloc, Zambales, about 145 kilometers north of Manila. Mrs. Empeño is the chief school administrator of the Tapoac Elementary School while her husband is a retired bank employee.-GMANews.TV