NBI fails to locate Palparan
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Turn yourself in peacefully.
Ricardo Diaz, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Luzon, aired this appeal to retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. on Wednesday after an NBI team armed with a warrant for his arrest failed to find him.
Asked why the NBI could not locate Palparan, Diaz said he believed that Palparan was evading arrest.
“He knew that a case had been filed against him and an arrest warrant had been issued. He should have turned himself in, but there has been no information [on his whereabouts] or any contact [initiated by] him,” Diaz told the Inquirer.
The Regional Trial Court in the City of Malolos in Bulacan issued the warrant for Palparan’s arrest on Monday afternoon. The warrant stems from a case filed by the Department of Justice in connection with the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.
Empeño and Cadapan have yet to be found since they disappeared in Bulacan.
Charged with Palparan were Lieutenant Colonel Felipe Anotado Jr., Master Sergeant Rizal Hilario of the 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija; and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio, who is assigned to the Army’s 24th Intelligence and Security Group in Fort Bonifacio.
Diaz said Anotado and Osorio were arrested on Tuesday through the help of the military’s provost marshall.
“They were arrested at once since they’re still active in the military service,” he said.
Judge Teodora Gonzales of the RTC Branch 14 in Bulacan also issued a hold-departure order against Palparan and his co-accused on Tuesday afternoon.
Gonzales ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Immigration to include Palparan, Anotado, Osorio and Hilario in the government’s hold-departure list to prevent them from leaving the country.
On Monday, BI personnel at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport at the Clark Freeport stopped Palparan from boarding a flight to Singapore, citing an order from the Department of Justice.
The court did not allow bail for Palparan and his co-accused.
Diaz said his men went to Palparan’s house in Taguig City to serve the warrant on Tuesday but were told by his tenants that the retired general rarely visits the place.
The NBI team also failed to find Palparan in his wife’s house in Pateros, he said.
The Inquirer has been trying to reach Palparan since Tuesday night but his mobile phone appeared to have been turned off.
Palparan, a former 7th Infantry Division commander, retired from military service in September 2006, less than three months after Cadapan and Empeño were abducted in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
Diaz said he hoped Palparan, called “berdugo” (butcher) by political activists, would heed his appeal.
“Baka nag-iisip pa siya (He may be thinking about his options). I hope he turns himself in peacefully,” Diaz said.
In an earlier telephone interview, Palparan said he would face the case and would not resist arrest. However, he said he would ask his lawyer to file a petition for a review of his case.
Human rights groups in Central Luzon counted over 700 incidents of human rights violations in the less than two years that Palparan was assigned in the region.
