Palparan reported hiding in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The fugitive Jovito Palparan is reported to have sought refuge in Southern Mindanao, Davao City police director Senior Superintendent Rene Aspera said Friday.

Aspera said the intelligence report they got to this effect was still being verified.

Palparan, a retired Army major general, is wanted for trial in connection with the disappearance in 2006 of student activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in Hagonoy, Bulacan. Specifically he has been charged with kidnapping and illegal detention.

Palparan went into hiding shortly before Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Malolos Regional Trial Court issued warrants for his arrest along with three co-accused on December  21.

The government has offered a P1-million reward for information leading to the capture of Palparan, whom activists refer to as “berdugo” (butcher) for a string of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in places in Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas where he had been assigned.