Palace dared to order Palparan arrest
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:29:00 10/13/2008
MANILA, Philippines—The United Opposition on Monday dared Malacañang to order the arrest of retired Army General Jovito Palparan and file criminal charges against him to prove that the government was serious in solving cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances among activists.
"The Arroyo administration should file charges and order the arrest of Palparan to show its adherence to the Constitutional provisions of protecting human rights and the rule of law. To keep silent on the matter would only confirm the sentiment of local and international human rights observers that her administration condones such practices," said UNO president and Makati mayor Jejomar Binay in a statement.
The opposition issued the challenge after the Supreme Court decision upheld the findings of the Court of Appeals last week linking Palparan to the abduction of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, both farmers in Bulacan who were taken under military custody for 18 months on suspicion of being New People's Army (NPA) rebels, until they escaped in August last year.
The high court said it found Raymond's accounts of how they were tortured by their military captors "convincing." Raymond had recounted that during captivity in an Army camp in Limay, Bataan, he saw fellow detainee Manuel Merino being "set on fire" by their captors, and that he later heard Merino's "screams or moans."
Raymond also claimed Palparan had told them during detention in a Bulacan compound that if they wanted to live, they should tell their parents to stop joining rallies and to stop going to human rights group Karapatan and the Commission on Human Rights.
The SC upheld the appellate court's findings in 2007 that "Palparan's participation in the abduction [of the brothers] was established."
UNO spokesperson and lawyer Adel Tamano said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez could immediately file criminal charges against Palparan even without the President's directive to show that they did not side with the former Army general.
He said a hold-departure order must also be issued on Palparan to prevent him from leaving the country—like former Agriculture Undersecretary Joc Joc Bolante, who was being connected to the fertilizer fund scam.
"To show this administration's adherence to the rule of law and respect for human rights, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez should file criminal charges against General Palparan and all military officers involved in the torture and abduction of the Manolo brothers," Tamano said.
But other military officers stressed UNO National Capital Region chair and San Juan Mayor Jose Victor “JV” Ejercito, should also be held criminally liable.
"Considering that majority of the victims of extra-judicial killings and disappearances were taken to military camps, the government should not single out only Palparan and investigate all military officers involved," he said.
"With the Supreme Court ruling, we hope that the majority members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who remained committed to human rights and the rule of law would do something in order to give justice to the so-called 'desaparecidos' of the Arroyo administration's extra-judicial killings," he added.
The endorsement of the appellate court's findings was part of the high tribunal's ruling that upheld the latter's grant of the writ of amparo to the Manalos. The brothers had sought the writ as protection from government harassment.
The SC decision penned by Chief Justice Reynato Puno also supported the CA ruling linking volunteers of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) to the brothers' abduction.
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