Press Release
October 15, 2008

KIKO CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO IDENTIFY
IF REMAINS IN BATAAN CAMP ARE OF MISSING UP STUDENTS

Following the discovery of remains in an Army detachment in Camp Limay, Bataan, Senate Majority Leader and former UP Student Council Chair Kiko Pangilinan today called on authorities to immediately identify whether the bodies found belong to missing UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.

"The case of the missing UP students has dragged on for 2 years and we have yet to put an end to the sufferings of their families by finding their whereabouts. This reflects the competence of our law enforcement agencies, and the military's refusal to fully cooperate only aggravates the situation," Kiko said.

Witness Raymond Manalo's claims of seeing missing UP coeds Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño under military custody in Limay, Bataan where an Army detachment was once encamped triggered talks that the missing students were executed by the military, after remains were found in the area.

Commission on Human Rights Chair Leila de Lima traveled to Bataan to inspect the site where the alleged victims of extra-judicial killings were buried. The Supreme Court earlier granted a Writ of Amparo to find the missing students, but the military was quick to say that they were not found in any of the military camps.

"We call for the swift identification of the remains found in Bataan so that we swiftly prosecute the culprits. Whether or not the bodies belong to Empeño and Cadapan, our military must answer to their abductions. We cannot afford to have an armed forces marred by state terrorism," Kiko ended.

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