PNP chief says why Palparan hard to find

Even the chief of the Philippine National Police has admitted that capturing fugitive Army Gen. Jovito Palparan is proving to be “difficult,” as the former military commander has been trained in exactly the same way as his pursuers.

Palparan carries a P500,000 bounty for his capture.

PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said that with the entire PNP forces all over the country on alert for the country’s most high-profile fugitives, it will be “just a matter of time” before the authorities run down their quarry.

He mentioned in particular Dinagat Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. whose conviction for the 2005 murder of his wife was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, and former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and the latter’s brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, who are both charged with the 2011 murder of broadcaster-environmentalist Gerry Ortega.

A different case

But Palparan, who is wanted in connection with the abduction and disappearance of two University of the Philippines students in 2006, is another case altogether, Bartolome said.

Bartolome was asked whether the well-connected fugitives have been able to elude capture because they are being protected by influential people.

Sidestepping the question, the PNP chief said: “In the case of General Palparan, he is trained and he knows what to do. That’s what makes it maybe difficult for us because we have been trained the same way.”

“In the case of the other fugitives, maybe it will just be a matter of time before they can be properly accounted for,” he said.

Palparan was ordered arrested last year by a Malolos court after the Department of Justice charged him and three other soldiers with kidnapping and serious illegal detention of missing student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.

Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and M/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, who are in active service, have turned themselves in and are now detained in the Army’s Fort Bonifacio headquarters.

The third accused soldier, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, who has been reported absent without leave since 2008, remains at large.

The Armed Forces has said its troops are not involved in the manhunt for the former commander of its Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) since the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation, an agency under the DOJ, are already on the case.

Nationwide manhunt

Bartolome said a nationwide manhunt is going on for the other high-profile fugitives.

“(In the case of) Ecleo, I have instructed not only the regions in Mindanao, especially in Caraga and Regions 9 and 10, not only the areas where he usually frequented before, but all other regions as well. It’s nationwide,” he said.

In the case of Joel Reyes, Bartolome said his being a former governor will not help him elude arrest for long.

“He could not have been friends with everyone. Even if he has contacts, not all of them will be his friends or will help him. I still believe there are more people who will want to see them captured,” he said.

A P300,000 reward has been put up by friends and supporters of Ortega for information leading to the arrest of the Reyes brothers.

Bartolome believes Ecleo and the Reyes brothers are still in the country.

“We’re not getting any report that they are now outside, that they have left the country. We are still hoping that they are still here,” he said.

Petition rejected

Malolos Judge Teodora Gonzales, meanwhile, has dismissed Palparan’s appeal for a preliminary investigation of the kidnapping charges against him, saying the general had been accorded due process with all his legal rights protected.

Gonzales said Palparan and his coaccused soldiers were given due process and properly informed of the nature and cause of the accusations against them, as shown by their having filed four counteraffidavits and rejoinders in July and August 2011.

“With the filing of their respective counteraffidavits and rejoinder affidavits, the accused answered the allegations imputed against them. Thus, it cannot be said they were denied their rights to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against them,” Gonzales said in her decision issued on April 3, which was obtained by the Inquirer on Thursday.

Lawyer Narzal Mallares, lead counsel for Palparan and the three soldiers, petitioned Gonzales last December to grant his clients a preliminary investigation, suspend the proceedings and recall the warrants of arrest that the court had issued against them.

Mallares’ omnibus motion also asked the court to quash or recall a hold-departure order issued against Palparan and the three soldiers.

Palparan was last seen in public on Dec. 19, 2011, at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga province, when he attempted to board a flight out of the country but was stopped by immigration officers.

But Gonzales said the court will accept legal motions or appeals that Palparan’s lawyers may file on behalf of their absent client, as well as take cognizance of the omnibus motion without Palparan and Hilario having to submit themselves to the custody of the court.

Military custody upheld

The judge has scheduled the arraignment of Osorio and Anotado for April 23.

Gonzales also allowed the two accused soldiers’ remaining in the custody of the Philippine Army Custodial Center (PACC) in Fort Bonifacio.

State and private prosecutors had asked the court to transfer Osorio and Anotado to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center (PNPCC) in Camp Crame to ensure they do not receive special treatment.

Osorio and Anotado, however, invoked Executive Order No. 106, which grants military personnel the right to remain under military custody while facing trial.

Gonzales said that based on an ocular inspection, the PNPCC in Camp Crame falls short of the minimum standards required for a detention facility while the PACC in Fort Bonifacio was more in keeping with international minimum standards.

“Even if the accused are not covered by EO 106, although the court has already ruled otherwise, the mere fact that they are already detained in a much better facility, where protection and security are likewise afforded, [means] the court cannot just withdraw from them such enjoyment,” she said.

Gonzales also noted that Anotado will need medical attention because he is undergoing treatment for colon cancer.

Private prosecutor Edre Olalia yesterday welcomed Gonzales’ ruling “as it basically sustains our position all along and is in accord with the law and jurisprudence.”

“It only further proves that Palparan et al. are just obstructing and frustrating justice at all costs,” said Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers.

With the judge’s order, the government should step up the manhunt for Palparan and his coaccused, he said.

He said private prosecutors were studying whether to file a motion for reconsideration on the ruling concerning Anotado and Osorio’s continued military custody. With a report from TJ Burgonio

First posted 9:26 pm | Friday, April 20th, 2012