By JEFFREY DAMICOG • CHITO CHAVEZ
JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra lauded yesterday the conviction of retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. and several others over the disappearance of two University of the Philippines (UP) students in 2006.
Though the judgment may have taken over 10 years since the crime, Guevarra stressed that what is important is justice was still served.
“Justice may come a bit late, but it does come. Let’s believe in that,” he told reporters.
Malacañang also said it respects the conviction of the retired Army officer Palparan, former Army commander stationed in Central Luzon, who has been called “The Butcher” by activists for alleged involvement in the abuses in the government’s anti-insurgency campaign. He has denied the allegations.
“We respect the decision of the court and we would want justice to be done to the victims,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said during a press conference in Benguet Monday.
In his decision, Judge Alexander Tamayo of Malolos City, Bulacan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 15 found Palparan guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention as penalized under the Revised Penal Code.
The case stemmed from the 2006 disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
Also found guilty along with Palparan were Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado Jr. and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio.
The three were given life sentences and were each ordered to pay R100,000 in civil indemnity and R200,000 for moral damages.
One of their co-accused, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, remains at large. Because of this, the court issued an alias warrant for his arrest and the case archived.
Judge Tamayo ordered the detention of Palparan, Anotado, and Osorio at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
However, their counsels appealed in open court to allow them to remain at the custodial center in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, due to another pending case at the Malolos RTC.
Despite hailing the conviction, relatives of the victims and other human rights advocates want to make sure that they are imprisoned in regular jail facilities in the company of common criminals and not in military camps or any special cell.
Concepcion Empeno and Erlinda Cadapan, the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn respectively, and other human rights groups were jubilant over the court decision, saying Palparan dubbed as the “butcher’’ will now “rot in jail’’ after long years of impunity and special treatment.
”We are only two of the many families who are happy with the court’s decision to convict Palparan. We are thankful that the courts recognized the truth in the testimonies of our witnesses, who have likewise suffered the same fate as our daughters,” said Empeno.
Empeno said there remains to be justice for the poor and ordinary people, but only because of the untiring call for justice and accountability from the victims themselves.
”From the bottom of our hearts, we sincerely thank everyone who have supported us in the past four years of this ordeal,” said Empeno.
Cadapan added “this is a victory for all the victims of Palparan.’’
“All victims and relatives from Southern Tagalog to Eastern Visayas, to Central Luzon where our daughters were abducted and disappeared, share this victory. However, this remains partial because the next question has always been ‘where are our children?’” said Cadapan.
Under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime, Palparan was commanding officer of different units of the Philippine Army, there were 206 victims of enforced disappearances. None of them has surfaced to this day.
“We hope that Palparan’s conviction will be used to shed light on the fate of desaparecidos under his watch. Until then, we shall continue searching for our daughters, and together will the families of all those killed and disappeared, we shall continue searching for justice,” said Cadapan.
The two UP students went missing on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
