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THE Commission on Human Rights together with forensic experts from
the University of the Philippines on Thursday exhumed in Labrador,
Pangasinan the body believed to be that of Sherlyn Cadapan, a
missing UP student.
Rights Commissioner-in-charge for Region I
Wilhelm Soriano, who headed the team composed of doctors and lawyers
of the Rights body, UP and nongovernment organization, Karapatan,
said the body was exhumed upon the request of Linda Cadapan, the
mother of the missing UP student.
“We are here to determine the cause of the
death of this woman, will check the DNA and compare them with the
samples from Mrs. Cadapan,” Soriano said.
The body was already brought to UP Manila for
DNA and forensic testing.
Sherlyn together with Karen Empeno were
allegedly abducted by military agents on June 26, 2006, and was last
seen alive on April 11, 2007.
The body, which has yet to be identified, was
found in a vacant lot in Labrador town near the boundary of Bugallon
on July 14. The body was burned and the Labrador police said there
was a crack on the skull.
Mrs. Cadapan said she has a feeling that the
body is that of her daughter, after seeing the photos of the burned
body. She further said that the body’s face, nose and feet
resembled that of her missing daughter.
The team started digging the remains at around 2
p.m. at the Municipal Cemetery of Labrador, headed by Dr. Corazon
De-ungria, chief of the DNA Analysis Unit of UP.
De-ungria laid down some ground rules for the
whole team, including how the media should be handled to make sure
any form of evidence is not tainted.
“The objective is to preserve the evidence,
and to be properly identified,” De-ungria, who will perform the
DNA testing, said.
Even if Mrs. Cadapan said she is 80 percent sure
the body is her daughter’s, she said that a DNA test showing
otherwise will give her new hope that her daughter is still alive.
Mrs. Cadapan requested the Rights commission to
exhume the body through the held of Karapatan.
-- Ira Karen Apanay
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