Bulacan court clears Palparan in second kidnapping case

A ROSARY AND A PICKET Edita Burgos (left photo, in cap), mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, holds on to a rosary as she and other protesters wait outside a courthouse in the City of Malolos for the promulgation on Oct. 6 of the second kidnapping case against ex-Army Gen. Jovito Palparan. PHOTO BY CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE

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CITY OF MALOLOS—Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan was acquitted on Friday by a Bulacan court in his second kidnapping case, this time involving the abductions of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, both farmers, on Feb. 14, 2006.

Palparan watched his promulgation online from New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City where he is serving life imprisonment for the June 26, 2006, kidnapping of University of the Philippines (UP) students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, who are still missing.

Activists, among them Edita Burgos, the mother of another desaparecido (missing person) Jonas Burgos, staged a picket outside the Bulacan courthouse in this city when Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Francisco Felizmenio of Branch 19 dismissed the two counts of kidnapping, illegal detention and serious physical injury filed against Palparan.

Raymond exited the courtroom with his fist clenched and yelled, “Walang katarungan (There is no justice).”

His lawyer, Jun Oliva of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), said they will appeal the decision and may elevate the lawsuit before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court should it be necessary.

The Manalo brothers were taken at noon from their respective houses at Barangay Buhol na Mangga in San Ildefonso town, months before Cadapan and Empeño disappeared.

But the court dismissed the case because the Manalo brothers could not confirm that they saw Palparan during their captivity at a military facility in San Ildefonso, according to Oliva.

Oliva said the judge also cited inconsistencies between affidavits submitted by the Manalo brothers and the prosecution witnesses and their oral statements during trial.

“Madilim ang gabi, walang masyadong ilaw sa lugar (The night was dark and the place was not well-lit),” went one of the testimonies presented at the trial of Palparan and brothers Michael, Marcelo and Mariano dela Cruz, who were members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographic Unit.

The Dela Cruz brothers had been incarcerated at the Bulacan provincial jail.

The prosecution said the Manalo brothers were snatched by armed men associated with Palparan when they failed to locate a third Manalo brother, Rolando, who was an alleged New People’s Army member who had surrendered to the police.

Ex-Army Gen. Jovito Palparan, the disgraced officer, now serving a life sentence for the abduction of students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, is acquitted in the abduction of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo. —PHOTO GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Detained but escaped

The Manalo brothers were kept in different detention facilities, and managed to escape in August 2008 when they were brought to a farm at Bolinao town in Pangasinan.

NUPL initially filed their kidnapping complaint against Palparan in 2007 before the Office of the Ombudsman, which remanded the case to the Bulacan Prosecutor’s Office.

The Bulacan RTC began hearing the case in 2013. The Bulacan prosecutor granted NUPL’s request to take the lead in the case.

Raymond testified in the trial for the kidnapping of Cadapan and Empeño, which resulted in the 2018 conviction of Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio by Bulacan RTC Judge Alexander Tamayo on Sept. 17, 2018. Their fourth co-accused who was also convicted—Master Sgt. Rizal Hilario—is currently a fugitive.

Raymond told the court that he saw the two UP students in various Army detention camps, and said the two women bore marks of torture.

READ: Malolos court acquits Palparan of kidnapping, illegal detention of Manalo brothers

“Iyon nga ang masakit—sobrang sakit. Hindi ko in-expect na ma-acquit ang berdugo (That is what makes today’s court decision painful—too painful. I did not expect the executioner—Palparan—to be acquitted),” Raymond told newsmen.

The judge enforced strict security measures that allowed journalists to witness the proceedings only if they left behind all their recording devices, including pen and paper. But reporters were still unable to enter the court on the second floor of the courthouse, as it was blocked by policemen.

Reynaldo was not at the promulgation as he continued to suffer mental anguish from the tortures he and his brother endured, Oliva said.

“We put him in the witness stand, but he was shaking. He was still in shock,” Oliva told the Inquirer.