Raymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTERaymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTERaymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTERaymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTERaymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTERaymond Manalo, one of two brothers who filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against retired general Jovito Palparan, breaks down after the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court acquitted the former military official on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Palparan (not in photo) was tagged as the mastermind behind the disappearance of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on Sept. 17, 2018. Manalo was a witness in the case of Cadapan and Empeño, both students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, who were accused by the military of being communist rebels. Lawyers who represented Manalo called the verdict 'unbelievable.'PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE