Groups hail conviction of Palparan for kidnapping of 2 student activists

Local and international groups lauded the conviction on Monday of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. for the kidnapping and illegal detention of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006.

In separate statements issued as soon as the decision came down, supporters of the Cadapan and Empeño families shared a common sentiment: The law will soon catch up with the perpetrators of human rights violations.

Malacañang welcomed the decision handed down by Judge Alexander Tamayo of the Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 15.

“We respect the decision of the court and we would want justice to be done to the victims,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters in typhoon-ravaged Benguet province.

Military will obey

The Armed Forces of the Philippines gave assurance that it would obey the order of the court.

“As it has been and always will be, the position of the AFP is submission to the majesty of the courts and respect for the rule of law,” Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, spokesperson for the AFP, said in a statement.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said justice had been served with the conviction of Palparan.

“Justice may come a bit late but it does come. Let’s believe in that,” Guevarra said.

“The time of reckoning has come,” said the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which served as private prosecutors in the case against “The Butcher,” the moniker that Palparan had earned for the killings of activists wherever he was assigned as a military commander.

“Despite tremendous odds and difficulties, the suffering mothers of Sherlyn and Karen through their supporters and lawyers have overcome what seemed to be a wild shot at a rare chance to make General Palparan and his likes accountable,” the group said.

Arroyo next

It added: “His conviction sends the message that cocky perpetrators of hideous human rights violations will meet their match in the fortitude of the mothers, the strength of the mass movement, the courage of human rights defenders and the value of good lawyering for the people.”

Edre Olalia, NUPL national president, said his group was now eyeing possible charges against House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was President when Palparan was in the military, for command responsibility.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes said the day of the conviction was a day to be remembered by the “thousands of victims of Palparan’s reign of terror” in various provinces in Central and Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas regions.

“This is a warning to all human rights violators,” Reyes said. “Impunity is not forever.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the decision a “big blow against impunity” in the Philippines.

“It rekindles hope among families of many other victims of human rights violations, now and in the past,” said Carlos Conde, HRW Asia Division researcher.

Lawmakers hailed the conviction of Palparan.

“This should send a strong signal to the [Armed Forces of the Philippines], the [Philippine National Police] and the rest of those in the government that sooner or later the law and our justice system will hold to account violators of human rights,” Sen. Francis Pangilinan said.

Good day for rights

In the House of Representatives, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said that while the conviction of Palparan had been long overdue, it nevertheless sent a stern warning to human rights abusers that the day of reckoning “will eventually come.”

“This is certainly a good day for the human rights community, human rights defenders and the families of victims,” Zarate said.

Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro of Act Teachers said the court’s decision should prompt the authorities to produce Empeño, Cadapan and other political activists who allegedly had been seized by state security forces.

Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action, said the conviction of Palparan was “justice served.” —WITH REPORTS FROM JULIE M. AURELIO, DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, JAYMEE T. GAMIL, MARLON RAMOS AND TINA G. SANTOS