De Lima reports on high-profile fugitives
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima
DAGUPAN CITY—The trail of fugitive Major General Jovito Palparan has gone cold.
But not those of two other high-profile fugitives, former Governor Joel Reyes of Palawan province and his brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes Jr., both wanted for the murder of environmentalist-broadcaster Gerry Ortega in Puerto Princesa City last year.
A manhunt for another law-breaking public official, Representative Ruben Ecleo Jr. of Dinagat Island, has begun. Ecleo has been convicted of parricide charges involving the death of his wife 10 years ago.
Speaking at a news conference here on Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the manhunt for Palparan may have reached a dead end.
De Lima said the authorities had stopped receiving tips from informants on the whereabouts of the retired Army general, who is accused of responsibility, as commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, for the disappearance of two University of the Philippines students in 2006.
“I regret to report to you that today we no longer have information about his possible whereabouts,” De Lima said.
“In other words, to be honest, we don’t know exactly where he is now,” De Lima said.
But the hunt for Palparan continues, she said.
“[Interior] Secretary Jesse Robredo and I are still continuously coordinating with respect to that,” De Lima said.
In December last year, Palparan and three soldiers were charged with kidnapping by a Bulacan court for the 2006 disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.
Palparan said he would face the charges then tried to flee the country.
He tried to leave for Singapore on December 19, but immigration officers at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, blocked his departure.
Palparan has since gone into hiding.
His two coaccused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, are detained at Fort Bonifacio.
The fourth accused, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, has yet to be arrested.
De Lima said the authorities were still receiving information on the whereabouts of the Reyes brothers.
The Reyeses are suspected of masterminding the assassination of Ortega, who criticized them on his radio programs.
P600K bounty
Friends and supporters of Ortega have put up P300,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of the Reyeses.
De Lima said the Department of the Interior and Local Government had doubled the bounty by putting up another P300,000 for the arrest of the brothers.
“It’s now a total of P600,000 so [I hope that will] help,” De Lima said.
She announced the start of the manhunt for Ecleo, who on Friday was found by the Cebu Regional Trial Court guilty of the murder of his wife, Alona Ecleo, in 2002.
The court sentenced Ecleo, spiritual leader of the cult Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, to 30 years in prison.
De Lima said there was an outstanding warrant for Ecleo’s arrest. “[Ecleo’s] conviction has just been affirmed so it’s now time to [enforce the] warrant of arrest,” she said.
The police and the National Bureau of Investigation are looking for the high-profile fugitives, De Lima said.
“We really have our hands full,” De Lima said.
De Lima admitted frustration at the lack of progress in the search for Palparan and the Reyes brothers.
No jurisdiction
As long as Palparan and the Reyeses remain at large, the courts have no jurisdiction over them and the cases against them cannot move, De Lima said.
Asked about the possibility that the fugitives had already fled the Philippines, De Lima said she believed the wanted men were still here, as there were no indications that they had left the country.
“We have no reason to believe, or no basis to say at this point, that they have gotten out,” De Lima said.
“Besides, they cannot just go out of the country because they have outstanding arrest warrants,” she said.
