Disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño

Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño were students who both disappeared in Hagonoy, Bulacan on June 26, 2006. Disappearance: On June 26, 2006, Cadapan and Empeño, both alumni of the University of the Philippines Diliman, were abducted by suspected military men in Hagonoy, Bulacan, during the tenure of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and were accused of being members of the Communist Party of the Philippines. This incident took place at the time of a fierce conflict in Central Luzon between the government and the communist New People's Army. According to the official investigation, eyewitness Raymond Manalo stated that General Jovito Palparan tortured Sherlyn by hitting her mouth and punching her breasts and stomach area until they bled. Palparan also slammed wooden planks against the victim so that Sherlyn would admit to being a communist, while Sherlyn kept on saying that she wanted to go home to her parents. Manalo also noted that he saw the military stealing from nearby villagers, burning dead bodies using gasoline, and shooting a man who was riding a carabao due to farm work. Manalo's account also noted that in April 2007, he saw Sherlyn lying naked on a chair that had fallen on the floor, her wrists tied together and one leg tied down, while being hit by wooden planks, electrocuted, and afterwards being half-drowned. The military also played with her body, poking wooden objects inside Sherlyn's vagina, after finding out that Sherlyn was going to write a letter to somebody. Sherlyn, due to intense torture, blurted out that the letter was Karen's idea. The military then dragged Karen out from her cell, stripped her naked, tied her wrists and ankles, then beat her, subjected her to water torture, burned her with cigarettes, and raped her with pieces of wood. Manalo afterwards washed the two women's clothes, including their blood-drenched panties. He also noted that the bucket containing urine from the two women was filled with 'chunks of blood'. Aftermath: The leftist political party Bagong Alyansang Makabayan has accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines of being involved in the women's disappearance and alleged deaths. Former general and former congressman Jovito Palparan–known as Berdugo ("Butcher") for his alleged involvement–was implicated by the Philippine government in 2011 for kidnapping, torture, and murder. He was arrested for the disappearances in 2014. Palparan ran for senator in the 2016 elections, but lost. On September 17, 2018, Palparan was sentenced to life imprisonment, after being convicted of his involvement in the disappearances.