Lawmaker seeks speedy and impartial public trial of Palparan

Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan is wanted for the kidnapping and illegal detention of UP student-activists Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan. Photo courtesy of www.indybay.com.

MANILA — Akbayan party-list solon on Wednesday lauded the swift action of the court for setting the arraignment of retired Major Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., this coming August 18 as he was ordered detained at the Bulacan Provincial Jail.

Akbayan party-list Rep. Barry Gutierrez said the arrest of retired Palparan is ‘a step in the right direction’ in providing justice and redress to the victims of human rights abuses that he allegedly committed during his military service.

“He [Palparan] should immediately face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law over long-standing charges involving grave violations of human rights and extrajudicial killings,” said Gutierrez, a former Human Rights lawyer.

“We look forward to this arrest as the first step in the right direction in ensuring that justice and redress will be served to the many victims of his abuses and, likewise, in holding other human rights violators accountable,” he added.

Dubbed by human rights activists as the ‘butcher’, Palparan has been accused of playing a lead role in various cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of government critics while serving in the military under the Arroyo administration.

Various human rights organizations claimed that the political killings were undertaken under the pretext of “Oplan Bantay Laya” a military operation aimed at eradicating insurgents and other threats to the administration.

Palparan, who was indicted in 2011 for two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation Tuesday 3 AM, at Sta. Mesa, Manila and is currently under the custody of NBI.

Gutierrez, who is a lawyer and former Director of UP Institute of Human Rights, also emphasized the need for Palparan to undergo due process and a speedy trial.

“A ‘speedy, impartial and public’ trial should be conducted immediately. We strongly urge the government to expedite the judicial process, while in full observance of all constitutional guarantees, and when found guilty, for maximum penalties to be meted out,” he added.

Amid continuing allegations of human rights violations in the country, Gutierrez also lauded the arrest of Palparan, saying that it is a positive development in the government’s efforts to promote human rights.

In May 2014, the Human Rights Watch revealed the existence of an alleged ‘death squad’ implicated in several hundred killings in Tagum City, Davao. The number obtained is estimated to be 298 killings, with no one prosecuted.

“While this may be considered a small victory, we hope that this arrest marks the start of significant improvements in the government’s human rights campaign,” he concluded.