Palparan again asks court to put him under military custody

By: Carmela Reyes-Estrope - 10 years ago

Retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CITY OF MALOLOS, Philippines — Retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. again asked the Bulacan Regional Trial Court to transfer him to military detention during his pretrial on Monday for kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges, in connection with the disappearance of two University of the Philippines students in 2006.

“The longer I stay in jail, the deeper is the threat to my life. The jail continues to receive new inmates. The threat to my life also becomes a threat to the inmates near me for as long as I stay here,” said Palparan, when interviewed at the courtroom.

Palparan has spent two weeks at the Bulacan Provincial Jail since he was committed here on August 18, immediately after his arraignment at the sala of Judge Teodora Gonzales of RTC Branch 14. He was arrested by a team led by the National Bureau of Investigation on August 12 in a house in Sta. Mesa district in Manila after more than two years on the run.

Palparan, called by cause-oriented groups as the “butcher” of political activists during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was held at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila until August 17.

On August 18, Gonzales had ordered Palparan to be detained at the Bulacan jail, after turning down his appeal to be placed under military custody for his protection.

On Monday, Gonzales accepted the motion filed by lawyers Narzal Mallares and Diosab Formilleza, Palparan’s counsels, seeking to place their client under the custody of the Intelligence and Security Group at the Philippine Army Custodial Center (PACC) in Fort Bonifacio.

The judge ordered provincial jail warden Pepito Plamenco, the administrator of the Army custodial center, the prosecutors and the defense lawyers to present their respective positions on Palparan’s latest petition.

The development has disappointed the families of missing UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen, said: “If Palparan needs to fear anyone, it should be the mothers of [the missing UP students] and not the New People’s Army [which reportedly put out an execution order against the former general]. It is us whom Palparan had injured. He should bring back our daughters.”

The court has set September 8 as the new pretrial date, while it deliberates on Palparan’s latest motion.

Mallares said the defense team cited Sections 27 and 28 of Presidential Decree 1638 (the law prescribing the retirement and separation system for military personnel) to argue that Palparan, being a reservist officer of the Philippine Army, should be held at the Army’s detention facility.

Palparan said the new petition stressed that his life has remained in danger, although it was not meant to undermine the capabilities of the Bulacan police, Plamenco or leaders of Bulacan inmates to protect him.

Palparan wore a military-issued helmet and a black jacket when he appeared in Gonzales’ sala. He was escorted to the court by a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for the pretrial at 10 a.m., and was immediately returned to his cell 30 minutes later.

Lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and counsel for the families of Empeño and Cadapan, assailed Palparan for resorting to “delaying tactics.”