MALOLOS CITY— “Stop playing with our emotions and start telling the truth.”
This was the message of Erlinda Cadapan, the mother of Sherlyn Cadapan, one of the two missing University of the Philippines (UP) students to retired Army General Jovito Palparan who claimed on Friday that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not coddling him.
For his part, Lawyer Edre Olalia, the counsel for Cadapan said Palparan is turning things upside down and stressed that it makes us mad for the retired general to claim that he is a victim.
In an interview over DWSS radio on Saturday, Cadapan reiterated her challenge to Palparan to surrender and prove his innocence in court instead of issuing statements through his counsel, Lawyer Jesus Santos.
“Nilalaro lang niya ang emosyon namin pati media, kung anu-ano ang pinasasabi niya kay (Attorney) Jess Santos, lumabas na lang siya at sabihin ang totoo,” Cadapan said.
The grieving mother also challenged Santos to identify the source of his information that Sherlyn and Karen Empeno are still alive.
“Pinaiikot din niya kami pati korte, bakit hindi niya sabihin kung sino ang source niya at kung saan makikita yung anak ko,” she said.
In a manifestation in court last week, Santos said that he received information that Sherlyn and Empeno might still be alive.
He also said on Friday that if the two missing students are still alive and found, there will be no case against Palparan.
However, Cadapan said Santos’ projection on the case of Palparan is not true.
She said that if her daughter is alive and will be released, she will consult with her including who are responsible for her abduction and disappearance for about six years now.
She vowed no forgiveness for Palparan as she has been suffering for the disappearance of her daughter Sherlyn.
For his part, Lawyer Edre Olalia said “General Palparan has the gall and temerity to claim that charges against him were done illegally. That is farthest from the truth.”
He said that mothers of the missing students went by the book and are enduring the tedious process of holing the retired general accountable.
He also challenged Palparan saying, “come out of your putrid sewage hole and see the light. Stop putting your lawyers on the spot and to take the fall for you even as they try to trifle with the emotions of the suffering mothers by recklessly springing bare claims that their young and abused daughters are still alive.”
