Palparan sends surrender feelers, says De Lima

Jovito Palparan Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. sent surrender feelers to the Department of Justice a week after he went into hiding following his indictment for the disappearance of two University of the Philippines students in 2006, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Monday.

“There were surrender feelers, but there is no indication of the exact date of the surrender,” De Lima told reporters. “The manhunt is ongoing because surrender has not materialized yet.”

Asked for details, she said,  “It’s from him, but not directly from him. It was through an emissary.”

Butcher

Tagged by activists as “berdugo” (butcher) for his alleged role in extrajudicial killings, Palparan went into hiding after a regional trial court in Malolos, Bulacan, on November 19 ordered his arrest for kidnapping and illegal detention in connection with disappearance of Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Judge Teodora Gonzales of RTC Branch 14 issued the arrest warrant against Palparan along with Lt. Col. Felipe  Anotado Jr., M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio. A hold-departure order has also been issued against them to prevent them from leaving the country.

Anotado and Osorio have since been arrested and detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.

De Lima said she was set to discuss today with Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo the possibility of offering cash reward to hasten the arrest of Palparan and Hilario, his supposed right-hand man.

“I intend to talk to (Robredo) about the reward if nothing happens until Tuesday morning,” she said.

Loyalty to Palparan

“I think if Palparan surrenders, then Hilario will follow suit. If Palparan resists, then Hilario will resist. It is, I think, how close or loyal he is to Palparan.”

The justice secretary said there was no indication that Palaparan had left the country since he was off-loaded from a Singapore-bound plane at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark Field, Pampanga, last week.

“I believe he is still in the country. Otherwise, he won’t send surrender feelers. There were reported sightings (of him) in Luzon, but they were not validated,” she said.

Coddling a fugitive

De Lima also warned that individuals helping Palparan evade arrest may be charged for coddling a fugitive from justice.

“As always, they will have liability under the law. It’s public knowledge that he is a fugitive because he has an outstanding warrant of arrest,” she said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has sent agents to locate Palparan, who is a former Bantay party-list representative, but NBI director for intelligence Ruel Lasala told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the effort had so far proved “negative.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has announced it is also joining the hunt for the retired general.

Edre Olalia, lawyer of the families of the missing students, welcomed the military’s participation in the hunt.

Cynicism

“There are those that are professional and they think this is a good opportunity for them to disprove the long-standing cynicism of people that they protect their own,” Olalia said in a phone interview.

“More than improving the image [of the armed forces], it’s the consistency of respecting human rights, and it is a good start if they help in the surrender of General Palparan. And it should be followed through consistently,” he said.

Olalia, who is also the secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, said he and many others were getting impatient that Palparan still hadn’t been captured, even though he was already caught trying to leave the country earlier. With reports from Jeannette I. Andrade and Leila B. Salaverria

Originally posted at 03:04 pm | Monday, December 26, 2011