After hearing an appeal, the Court of Appeals (CA) First Division upheld the earlier conviction of retired M/Gen. Jovito “The Butcher” Palparan and two other military officers for kidnapping and serious illegal detention of activists in Bulacan.
Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado Jr., and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio were first detained in 2018 after a trial court found them guilty for the disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.
On June 26, 2006, the two victims were kidnapped from their rented home in Hagonoy Bulacan by gunmen after they were accused of being communists. Empeno at the time was a 22-year-old sociology student studying the experiences of Cadapan farmers, while Cadapan was a 29-year-old human kinetics student working as a community organizer in Bulacan.
Sixteen years later, their bodies are missing and whereabouts are still unknown.
The CA affirmed the conviction saying the witnesses gave “credible, clear, and categorical” testimonies about how the two victims suffered under Palparan and his fellow officers.
Several witnesses said that they saw the two students in various military camps in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Bataan, and Zambales.
The witnesses identified one of the co-accused, Edgardo Osorio, as one of the officers present in the kidnapping of the two victims.
While Anotado and Palparan were not present during the night of the abduction, witnesses like Raymond Manalo, a torture and abduction survivor himself, said that they went to the detainees in several of the military camps where they were kept, proving that they knew about the abduction.
“Accused-appellant Palparan’s companion in civilian attire went down the vehicle and proceeded to the cell of the two women. He fetched them and then boarded them on to the white vehicle where accused-appellant Palparan was still inside. The vehicle left and, after 3 days, the 2 women were taken back to Camp Tecson,” said the Court of Appeals.
The court did not believe the alibis provided by the accused, and said that the inconsistencies they tried to point out were immaterial, only showing that the testimonies were not orchestrated.
The CA affirmed the penalty of reclusion perpetua until death without parole. Palparan and his cohorts were also obliged to pay P100,000 in civil indemnity and P200,000 moral damages for each case, subject to a 6% annual interest.
Human rights groups lauded the CA for upholding the decision, saying that “The Butcher” Palparan’s conviction is a step forward towards ending impunity and getting justice for the victims.
“Karapatan welcomes the Court of Appeals First Division decision afferming the conviction of butcher Palparan and cohorts. This recent legal victory affirms the need to pursue justice and accountability through and through – despite threats, harassment, reprisals, and patronage by those in power of these rights violators,” said Karapatan Secretary-General Tinay Palabay.
Palabay said that the conviction would not have been possible without the “strength and perseverance” of the victim’s parents, witnesses, the families of fellow Desaparecidos, human rights groups, the international community, and the Filipino people.
“Sadly, Karen and She, along with many other desaparecidos remain missing, and Palparan should be made to divulge their whereabouts. This struggle for justice is for them and many other victims of State terrorism,” she added.
The National Union of People’s Lawyers, counsel to the victims families, celebrated the result as an affirmation that abusers and enablers will not get away with their crimes. It was a warning, they said, “to those who entertain the thought that they are invincible and untouchable just because they are in power.”
“Rare and far between as they are, the accountability of remorseless human rights violators will come if the victims, families, and human rights defenders persist. The facts, evidence and the law are so overwhelming as to have it any other way,” said NUPL President Edre Olaila.
Know more about Karen and She’s story in this feature.
Featured image by Philippine Star
