CITY OF MALOLOS, Philippines—The Department of Justice on Thursday asked the regional trial court here to transfer the two co-accused of retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. in the 2006 kidnapping of two University of the Philippines students to the custody of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame.
Lieutenant Colonel Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio surrendered to authorities on December 20 and were held briefly at the Bulacan provincial jail before they were transferred last week to the custody of the Philippine Army in Fort Bonifacio.
The motion will be heard by Judge Teodora Gonzales of the RTC Branch 14 on January 2. Gonzales will also hear on the same day Palparan’s motion to quash and recall the warrant of arrest and hold departure order issued against him by the court.
Through his lawyer, Palparan, who has been in hiding since the court issued an arrest warrant on December 19, also asked the court to suspend its proceedings, saying he was denied due process.
Lawyer Melba David, clerk of court of the RTC Branch 14, said the DOJ wanted Gonzales to reconsider her December 23 order granting the motion filed by the lawyer of Anotado and Osorio to allow them be held at the Army’s custodial management unit in Fort Bonifacio.
In the custody hearing last December 23, lawyer Alex Alberto Popanes said placing Anotado and Osorio in a civilian jail with suspected criminals and New People’s Army rebels would endanger their lives.
“Taking into consideration the security of the lives of the accused in a Bulacan provincial jail which cannot be guaranteed by anyone, [my clients] request that the custody of the accused be given to the jail warden of the Philippine Army… located at Fort Bonifacio,” Popanes said.
Lawyer Narzal Mallares, who represents Palparan, Anotado and Osorio, said his clients’ rights were violated because they were not given the chance to be informed of the charges filed against them.
He asked Gonzales to order the DOJ to conduct preliminary investigation and his clients to be allowed to submit evidence to refute the charges against them.
“The rights of the accused to due process and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against them were violated in the filing of the information in the instant cases. Consequently, the issuance by this honorable court of the warrant of arrest as well as of the hold departure order is bereft of any factual and legal basis. The information, the WOA and the HDO suffer from the same legal infirmities,” the motion said.
Palparan, Anotado, Osorio and M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario are facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the 2006 disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan. Hilario has yet to be arrested.