“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.

Rights group Hustisya on Sunday called for the immediate release of two University of the Philippines Pampanga students, who were abducted Saturday afternoon in a Nueva Ecija town and were later found at the Philippine National Police Provincial (PNP) Public Safety Company Headquarters in Cabanatuan City.

“The PNP should be accountable for their illegal arrest and detention. We demand for their immediate release,” said Cristina Guevarra, Hustisya secretary general.

Gerald Salonga and Guiller Cadano, who both studied in UP Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga, were reportedly taken by unidentified men in two vehicles in the afternoon of August 9.

“Style na bulok na ito ng PNP at AFP. Mandurukot sila ng mga aktibista. Pagkapos nilang magtanim ng ebidensya, saka sila magsasampa ng kitang-kita naman na gawa-gawang kaso laban sa mga inaresto” (This is a rotten tactic of the PNP and AFP. They will abduct activists. After they have planted evidence, then they will file obviously trumped-up charges against those arrested), said Guevarra.

Guevarra said the PNP should be condemned for its “rotten tactics” of filing trumped-up charges against activists, which resulted to the arrest and detention of more than 200 political prisoners under the Aquino government. There are currently 499 political prisoners under Pres. Aquino.

According to initial reports gathered by Karapatan Central Luzon, the two will be charged with illegal possession of firearms.

The group hit the Aquino government for continuing illegal arrests and filing of trumped-up charges against activists, including youth and students, while it has not arrested Jovito Palparan, who abducted missing UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

“The Aquino government has never rendered justice for the victims of human rights violators in the past. Pres. Aquino is equally accountable now for human rights violations committed under his watch. Ang hulihin nyo si Palparan, hindi itong mga kabataan! (You should arrest Palparan and not these youth activists!),” said Guevarra.

Reference:
Cristina Guevarra
Hustisya secretary general
+63949-1772928

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