20 years after UP students’ disappearance: Impunity prevails, justice denied many times over
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
June 26, 2026
References: Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeno, Desaparecidos
Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
20 years after UP students’ disappearance: Impunity prevails, justice denied many times over
Twenty years after the abduction and enforced disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, families of the desaparecidos, friends and rights advocates renewed calls to surface all victims of enforced disappearance and hold perpetrators fully accountable, their mothers and friends, families of other desaparecidos, and individual advocates who have followed and joined their search for justice gathered in UP Diliman.
“Dalawampung taon na, pero hangad pa rin namin na ilitaw nila sina Karen at Sherlyn (Twenty years have passed, yet we continue to call that they surface Karen and Sherlyn),” said Erlinda Cadapan, mother of Sherlyn. Both Sherlyn’s parents are now in their 70s, still hoping to receive any information about their missing daughter.
“For 20 years, the families of Karen and Sherlyn have searched tirelessly and longed for the day they would finally be reunited with their loved ones. Through its indifference and persistent denial of the policy and practice of enforced disappearance, the State has kept the families of the desaparecidos in the dark,” said Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general.
In the early morning of June 26, 2006, in Hagonoy, Bulacan, Karen and Sherlyn, along with farmer Manuel Merino, were forcibly taken away by armed men believed to be soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.
“What kind of justice system convicts perpetrators but cannot reveal the truth, and provide clarity, or even closure, to the loved ones of the disappeared?” asked Palabay.
On the eve of the 20th year of the disappearance of Karen and Sherlyn, their mothers together with counsel from the National Union of Peoples Lawyers personally went to the Bureau of Corrections to see whether convicted Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan is there.
At the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa, they were met by NBP Superintendent Garry Garcia, who presented to them Palparan, in an orange shirt.
“While confirming he is there at present, the BUCOR should still be made to answer why letters from the Supreme Court addressed to Palparan were returned to sender, and annotated that he has moved out to another place, which in any way violates his sentence to be confined at the NBP Maximum Security Compound,” said Palabay.
The alibi of the NBP, of placing Palparan under minimum detention, should also be questioned, according to the group.
“They keep mentioning security threats as an excuse not to place Palparan where he should be, in maximum security. It is appalling how Palparan can still bend the law behind bars, and avail of all the special treatment as a convicted criminal. It is a grave insult to their families, " said Palabay.
The case of Karen and Sherlyn, according to the group, further exposes the failure of the system in rendering justice. "A justice system that cannot produce the disappeared, cannot compel perpetrators to reveal the truth, and cannot guarantee full accountability ultimately delivers only superficial justice,” described Palabay.
“It has become crystal clear that for families of the disappeared, justice cannot be reduced to court decisions alone. Justice means uncovering the truth, locating the victims, ensuring accountability, and dismantling the structures that enable enforced disappearances and impunity,” said Palabay.
Enforced disappearances continue under the Marcos Jr. administration. There have been 16 desaparecidos under Marcos Jr., while a significant number became victims of abduction, but were surfaced.
“The call to surface Karen and Sherlyn, is a call to surface for all victims of enforced disappearance. Our search for justice remains a powerful reminder that until our daughters are surfaced, until every desaparecido is surfaced and every perpetrator held accountable, justice remains unfinished.’” said Concepcion Empeno, mother of Karen.
"The Filipino people must remain vigilant, demand transparency, and ensure that perpetrators of grave human rights violations are never allowed to evade accountability," Palabay added.
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publi...@karapatan.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District
KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.