Court denies Palparan camp’s appeal to reverse conviction

Retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 15 denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the camp of former Major General Jovito Palparan, who was found guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention related to the disappearance of University of the Philippines (UP) students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in 2006.

In his decision released on Thursday, Malolos RTC judge Alexander Tamayo said the court finds Palparan’s appeal “offering no justification to compel this court to modify or reverse the assailed decision dated September 17, 2018.”

Palparan was declared guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention on Sept. 17. Together with his co-accused, he was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or 20 years and one day to 40 years imprisonment, and were ordered to pay P100,000 for civil indemnity and P200,000 for moral damages for each count.

READ: Palparan guilty of kidnapping UP students

Tamayo said Palaparan’s assertions are mere “rehash of their previous stand which had been passed upon and resolved extensively in the assailed decision.

“Finding no additional and/or new points raised to outweigh the settled position of the court, the Motion for Reconsideration, as well as the Supplemental Motion, is denied for lack of merit,” Tamayo added.

Aside from Palparan, also found guilty of the crime were Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Jr. and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio.

Unidentified armed men seized the student activists in a house in Barangay San Miguel, Hagonoy, Bulacan, on June 26, 2006. More than 12 years since the incident, the whereabouts of the two women are still unknown.

Leftist groups tagged Palparan, who was then the commander of the 7th Infantry Division, in the disappearance of the students who were suspected to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Palparan went into hiding following the issuance of a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested in Sta. Mesa, Manila, in 2014.

Osorio’s habeas corpus plea

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also denied with finality on Thursday Osorio’s bid for liberty.

In the ruling penned by SC Assistant Chief Pagwadan Fonacier, the SC Third Division junked Osorio’s petition for review on certiorari on the Court of Appeals’  July 27, 2015 and Feb. 22, 2016 rulings turning down his petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.

The writ for habeas corpus, according to the Rules of Court, extends to “all cases of illegal confinement or detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty.”

Osorio, appealing the appellate court’s decision against him, argued before the SC that he was being “illegally deprived of his liberty because he was charged with an ‘inexistent offense’.” /je