Judge who convicted Palparan praised for ‘standing up for justice’

The decision of a Bulacan Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge sentencing retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. to life imprisonment showed that the rule of law remains alive in the Philippines, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay said on Tuesday.

Hilbay, one of the fierce critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal  war on drugs, praised Judge Alexander Tamayo of the Bulacan RTC Branch 15 for his “enormous amount of courage” in handing down the guilty verdict on Monday.

“Amid the threats and challenges besetting our judiciary, we’re happy that there’s somebody like Judge Tamayo who [is] still standing up for justice and the rule of law,” he said.

Same fate for other ‘butchers’

“The moral arc of the universe [may be] long, but it bends toward justice,” he added.

Hilbay said he hoped the fate that had befallen Palparan, dubbed “The Butcher” by leftist groups for his brutal tactics in fighting communist insurgents under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, would “soon [happen] for the butchers of this administration.”

Palparan, former commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, and two other former military officers were convicted of kidnapping and illegal detention over the disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.

The two women were suspected of sympathizing with the communist New People’s Army.

They remain missing.

Former Army Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado Jr. and former Army S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio were also sentenced to life in prison for the abduction of the two women.

He keeps his opinions private

A fourth defendant, Army M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, remains at large. Tamayo has issued a warrant for his arrest.

Palparan yelled at Tamayo after hearing the decision, calling the judge a “coward.”

Tamayo on Tuesday declined interviews to answer Palparan.

His staff said the judge preferred to keep his opinions private.

Lawyers in Bulacan called Tamayo a “just man.”

Provincial Prosecutor Renato Samonte Jr. compared Tamayo to his father, former Makati RTC Judge Roque Tamayo, who had a reputation as a tough magistrate.

Lawyer Jose de la Rama Jr., law dean of Tarlac State University, described Tamayo as a “man of honor” who treated all litigants with respect and equity.

“He relies on evidence presented in court, no matter what the perception of other people about the case,” De la Rama said.

Tamayo ruled that witness testimonies that Empeño and Cadapan were seen in a military camp being tortured were “credible.”

Conspiratorial liability

“Crucial in determining the culpability and conspiratorial liability of General Palparan is the unassailable fact that he knew all too well of the forcible abduction and detention of Karen and Sherlyn by those under his command, as he had seen these two women at Camp Tecson, but he not only acquiesced to their unlawful captivity but also gave his imprimatur to their inhumane treatment at the hands of his men, and, in effect, fomented the same by not lifting a finger to halt the abuses against them,” the judge said in his decision.

Palparan also served as commander of the 204th Brigade on Mindoro Island.

Activists in Southern Tagalog blamed the killings of human rights defenders in the region on Palparan’s command. —With reports from Carmela Reyes-Estrope and AFP