By Hustisya

Long before supertyphoon Yolanda wreaked havoc in Eastern Visayas that claimed thousands of lives and damage to millions of property, Jovito Palparan’s military-instigated tragedy first struck the region.

Two days after his arrest, victims and survivors of Palparan in the provinces of Samar and Leyte joined the call for a speedy convition of the “butcher”.

“I felt a sense of fulfillment, even a little, that Palparan has been arrested. We will look into filing more charges against him. He should account to his crimes in our region and to members of our church as well.

“We urge all other victims of Palparan to come forward and do the same,” said Emma Lapuz, widow of United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastor Rev. Edison Lapuz.

Rev. Lapuz and Alberto Malinao, a leader of local peasant organization, were both shot dead outside the former’s house on 12 May 2005. The pastor was then conference minister of the UCCP and chairperson of Karapatan (Katungod-Sinirangang Bisayas) in the region.

Palparan has earned the rank of major general in 2004 when he was appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army, covering the area of Region VIII, the provinces of Samar and Leyte.

In a span of six months, from February to August of 2005, Palparan and his men unleashed a bloody campaign of terror and mayhem upon the people of Leyte and Samar and claimed 19 victims of extrajudicial killings, 12 victims of enforced disappearances and 25 victims of torture in Eastern Visayas.

“The killings in 2005 were intensive and wihout let-up. Only days and weeks separated the series of murders. Victims were leaders and members of different people’s organizations branded by Palparan as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army,” said Cristina Guevarra, secretary general of Hustisya.

On 14 March 2005, Atty. Felidito C. Dacut, regional coordinator of Bayan Muna Eastern Visayas, was shot dead by two unidentified men on board a motorcycle. Riding on a multi-cab, Dacut just came from a meeting at the the Bayan Muna regional headquarters in Tacloban.

Also, there were nine victims and survivors of frustrated killings. One of them was Dario Tomada, a peasant leader in Leyte, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt against him inside his house in Kananga, Leyte on 7 May 2005. He and his brother survived the attack.

While in a sanctuary in Manila, however, he was arrested in July 2010 and is facing trumped-up charges of multiple murder as one of the John Does in the case, along with Jose Maria Sison and Satur Ocampo. Tomada is in detention at the Manila City Jail.

“Like what he did in Mindoro, Palparan hamletted communities of farmers and ordinary folks. They were hauled and forced to undergo intensive interrogations, coerced to sign documents incriminating themselves being rebels and made to appear as rebel surrenderees pervaded in the farflung communities,” said Guevarra.

Emma will be joining other victims of Palparan from Southern Luzon and Central Luzon to demand the speedy trial and conviction of Palparan on Friday.

“Communities in Eastern Visayas were subjected to food blockades, enforced curfews and regular census by the military. Suspected rebel sympathizers and activists when not being murdered in broad daylight were snatched out and never been heard,” said Guevarra.

A protest action will also be held on the next hearing of the kidnapping case against Palparan on 18 August at the Malolos Regional Trial Court. He is set to be arraigned on 28 February 2015.

Reference:
Cristina Guevarra
Hustisya secretary general
+63949-1772928

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Hustisya National Office
2/F #1 Maaralin cor. Matatag Sts.
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City 1100 Philippines
Telephone: (02) 434-7486 | (02) 435-4146
Mobile: 0949-1772928
E-mail: hustisya.national@gmail.com

“Families of the disappeared should see Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan in Malolos Court on Monday, August 18, in the hearing of the case against him. There is no reason why he should not be there,” said Lorena “Aya” Santos, secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice.

“While we welcome butcher Palparan’s arrest, we remain more vigilant to see through that justice be served soon,” Santos said. Palparan is currently facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention at the Malolos Regional Trial Court for the abduction and disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.

Palparan is accountable for at least 59 victims of enforced disappearances: five victims in Mindoro, 42 victims in Central Luzon, and 12 in Eastern Visayas.

“Palparan’s arrest comes in such a convenient timing to pull up BS Aquino’s falling trust ratings,” Santos said. “As BS Aquino is being made accountable for the unconstitutionality of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and many other issues, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested one of the most wanted men who have eluded arrest for more than two years; and, eight years after the Karen and Sherlyn were abducted, tortures and disappeared,” Santos said.

“Let this be not an attempt to gain pogi points for BS Aquino government. It is because of the courage of the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn and the popular call of the people for justice that Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe  Anotado and Sgt. Edgardo Osorio are now face charges in court,” Santos said. M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, also a co-accused in the case, remains to be a fugitive.

“We demand that Palparan be imprisoned in a regular jail and not in a military custody,” Santos ended.

Reference:
Aya Santos
Desaparecidos secretary general
+63908-812982

http://www.karapatan.org/Karapatan+calls+on+victims+of+Palparan+to+come+out+and+charge+him+in+court

Karapatan welcomes the long overdue arrest of The Butcher Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. Those who harbored and kept Palparan from arrest in the past years should be accountable as well.

Palparan’s arrest is due to the persistent and untiring struggle for justice of victims and kin, and the Filipino people against state repression. His arrest does not absolve BS Aquino from accountability for the human rights violations — killings, torture, and enforced disappearances — committed by the Palparans under his reign.

He should be immediately in jail for the disappearance of Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Palparan should be fully accountable for all the evils he committed — extrajudicial killings, torture and disappearances — under Macapagal-Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya.

Among those killed under Palparan are human rights defenders Eden Marcellana and peasant leader Eddie Gumanoy in Southern Tagalog; UCCP Pastor Edison Lapuz, Leyte; Atty. Fedelito Dacut, Leyte; Supreme Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

From 2005 to 2006 alone, when The Butcher Palparan was Commanding Officer of the 7th Infantry Division, specifically with the 24th Infantry Battalion known as the torture battalion under him, there were 71 victims of extrajudicial killings, 14 victims of frustrated killing, and five incidents of massacre.

No special treatment should be accorded to butchers like him. There should likewise be no more delays in delivering justice, for the victims and their relatives have suffered far too long. Place Palparan behind bars now!

We call on all the victims and kin of Palparan to come out and file charges against him in court. He should not get away from his sins to the Filipino people.

Reference:
Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+63918-9790580

At dawn today, Jovito Palparan Jr., a retired military general, wanted on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), in Sta. Mesa, Metro Manila. Palparan is the principal accused in the abduction, illegal detention, torture and rape of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.

Cadapan and Empeño were senior undergraduate students at the University of the Philippines, when they “were forcibly taken, blindfolded and their hands tied, by armed men wearing bonnets [sic]” in Hagonoy, Bulacan in June 26, 2006. The abductors were soldiers attached to units under Palparan’s “direct command, order, and supervision”.

On July 4, 2006, when interviewed on television, Palparan admitted his men took custody of Cadapan, Empeño and two others who were released. Cadapan and Empeño were not released. Their whereabouts remains unknown to this day. Palparan claims they “were members of the New People’s Army collecting revolutionary taxes”.

On July 13, 2006,Cadapan and Empeño’s family filed petition for habeas corpus with the Supreme Court. Palparan and his accomplices have “denied having custody of the victims and denied having knowledge of their abduction”.

Palparan and his accomplices were prosecuted based on the testimonial evidence of two witnesses, who were formerly detained with the victims in Camp Tecson in Bulacan. One of the witnesses had seen “two women fitting the description of Cadapan and Empeño”, and another witness said he “met Cadapan, who introduced herself as a UP student. He later came to know about Empeño”.

The photograph of Palparan, taken during his arrest, is now widely circulated on television, in newspapers and online media. It is different from how he was perceived by the victims, their families and those he was hunting down. In his time, Palparan enjoyed full support for his counter insurgency campaign, from his former commander-in-chief, the former President Gloria Arroyo.

Palparan is one of many soldiers, police, politicians and wealthy individuals who are wanted and in hiding from the law for many years. Palparan’s fearsome, invincible and powerful image disappeared after his arrest. He was portrayed in the people’s mind as representative of the military’s power. Now, he is just an ordinary man before the law.

The impact of Palparan’s arrest, detention and prosecution in court, is unthinkable in the Filipino mind. A military general who used to be a most powerful person—is now under arrest, under and accountable to the law. We are seeing change.

In the Philippines, many victims continue to struggle against residue left over from its authoritarian past where the military and police were powerful. These continue to thrive in criminal justice institutions—from the police, to prosecutors to the judiciary. Arresting persons, like Palparan, is very difficult. But, this too is changing.

Palparan’s arrest has generated expectations of a genuine prosecution of his case, with justice being meted out with no undue delay. Now there is an opportunity for prosecutors to expose the machinery of repression that produced aberrations, like Palparan. The Filipino people have a right to know how he was able to undermine all the legal provisions in the country, and create a reign of terror.

Acts of cruelty perpetrated by Palparan on some Filipinos are crimes. He is guilty of terrorizing the whole of the Filipino people. The prosecutors need to convince the people that justice will be fully carried out. This should serve to generate the following hope in society. There will be no recurrences of former cruel and inhuman treatments on any citizen that would come out of the country’s security apparatus.

Finally, we express profound appreciation to the families of Cadapan and Empeño for their tireless efforts in seeking justice for their children. The local groups, notably the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights, and countless others, supported the victims for many years. It is your continuous work of demand and pressure that made Palparan’s arrest possible.

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A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.