Screengrab of the NTF-Elcac video on Facebook wherein NTF-Elcac spokesperson Lorraine Badoy interviews retired Army Gen. Jovito Palparan.
MANILA, Philippines – “A bad April Fool’s Day joke that came a day too early.”
This was how Senator Leila de Lima described the interview of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan with National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) spokesperson Lorraine Badoy.
In a statement, De Lima slammed what she viewed as Badoy’s “desperation” that led her to enlist the help of the convicted retired general.
“Nagkakandarapa sina Badoy at NTF-ELCAC para i-red tag, o tawaging communist sympathizer, ang mga human rights defenders, mga student activist, at mga progresibong organisasyon sa ating bansa. Samantala, si Duterte, babalik na naman sa China para humalik sa paanan ng pinuno ng Communist Party of China, si Xi Jin Ping,” said De Lima.
(Badoy and the NTF-ELCAC are working together to red tag or call communist sympathizers our human rights defenders, student activists, and progressive organizations in the country. Meanwhile, Duterte will return to China to kiss the feet of Xi Jin Ping, the leader of the Communist Party of China.)
“Sino ba sa kanila ang totoong kalaban ng mga Filipino? Ang mga Human Rights Defenders na nagtatanggol sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa at katutubo sa atin, o ang China na gustong nakawin ang ating teritoryo?” she added.
(Who among them is the real enemy of the Filipinos? The human rights defenders who fight for the rights of our workers and indigenous peoples, or China who wants to steal our territory?)
Badoy was among those who interviewed Palparan in a program aired on SMNI News Channel on Wednesday. The spokesperson claimed that Palparan is a victim of “trumped-up charges” powered by the “lies” of the New People’s Army (NPA).
“The cases against the convicted Palparan are all above-board and based on a solid case backed up by clear evidence. The cases were legitimate enough that the judgment was promulgated in 2018, long after I left the DOJ (Department of Justice) and Duterte was already President,” De Lima, however, stressed.
In 2018, the Malolos Regional Trial Court found Palparan guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention related to the disappearance of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in 2006.
It was during De Lima’s term as Justice secretary that the case against Palparan was filed and progressed significantly.
“In fact, I was already detained when Palparan was convicted of his crimes. So spare us the nonsense that I had anything to do with this politically,” the senator went on. – Jericho Zafra, INQUIRER.net intern
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