Army division denies hiding Palparan

CITY of San Fernando—The Army’s 7th Infantry Division on Friday denied coddling retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, who has eluded arrest since Dec. 20 on charges of kidnapping two University of the Philippines students in Bulacan in 2006.

“The [Armed Forces] is a professional organization composed of disciplined and law-abiding soldiers,” the 7th ID said in a statement. “It is not the policy of the AFP to coddle and provide safe harbor to any person wanted by law.”

Maj. Enrico Gil Ileto, the unit’s public information officer, said the statement was in reply to allegations published recently by the media.

Until his retirement on Sept. 11, 2006, Palparan commanded the unit, which operates in Central Luzon, the region north of Metro Manila.

Palparan should “turn himself in and answer all allegations hurled against him,” the 7th ID urged in its statement.

“It would be better for him to face the case and take the opportunity of proving that he is not guilty and that he is innocent,” it said.

Soldiers have been instructed to “inform proper authorities if they will spot General Palparan in their duty assignments,” according to the statement.

But the Army has intensified its surveillance efforts, this time in Aurora, because of reports that Palparan had been sighted there this time.

On Dec. 19, immigration personnel at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport stopped Palparan from boarding a plane bound for Singapore.

Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Bulacan regional trial court issued on Dec. 20, 2011, the arrest warrant on Palparan and three soldiers still in active duty, who were implicated in the abduction of Sherylyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. Tonette Orejas, with a report from Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon.