‘AFP men aiding fugitive general: kicker Robredo rejects shoot- to-kill order vs Palparan

MALOLOS CITY– Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo Thursday rejected a shoot-to-kill order against retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr.

Speaking at a forum of the provincial government of Bulacan and the Diocese of Malolos, Robredo said the fugitive must be arrested and brought to court for trial. “We are doing everything to find him,” he said in Filipino.

Robredo, meanwhile, dared militant and human rights groups to identify the alleged coddlers of Palparan.

“It’s better they identify who are those coddlers because (Defense) Secretary (Voltaire) Gazmin has already denied those allegations,” he said.

On Jan. 30, Erlinda Cadapan, mother of Sherlyn Cadapan, one of the two missing students, said the government was not doing enough to arrest Palparan.

A P1-million reward for the capture of Palparan is nothing, she added.

Last Wednesday, a US-based human rights group urged President Aquino to order the military to cooperate with civilian authorities in arresting Palparan and others charged with the enforced disappearance of two activists in 2006.

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said they have information that some sympathetic military personnel were thwarting attempts by civilian authorities to capture Palparan.

“President Aquino should get the message to the military that the years of protecting Palparan for grievous abuses are over. Officers and soldiers alike should be on notice that if they block civilian authorities in arresting Palparan, they, too, will face legal consequences,” Pearson said.

The military, however, challenged Human Rights Watch to name the soldiers providing protection to Palparan.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said they were ready to work with agencies that would probe the supposed coddlers of the retired general.

“We challenge them (Human Rights Watch) to submit names. You file a complaint and this will be addressed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Burgos said in a press briefing.

“We are willing to cooperate with any agency to help us also in further protection and promotion of human rights,” he added.

Burgos said they will not tolerate any soldier providing safe haven or sanctuary to wanted personalities.

He, however, said sanctions can only be slapped on active soldiers and not the retired ones.

“We don’t have any jurisdiction anymore for those who are retired in the Armed Forces but provide us with the names of those in the active service then we would initiate action,” Burgos said.

Palparan has been on the run since he was charged in December with kidnapping University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006. The two activists remain missing.

Apart from Palparan, the Department of Justice also filed charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention against Sgt. Rizal Hilario, who is also on the run, while Lt. Col. Felipe Antado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio have surrendered and transferred to military custody.

This, as one of the Palparan’s counsels told a Bulacan court Jan. 30 that he received information that the two missing University of the Philippines students were still alive.

“I believe it’s true, that’s why I informed the court, and I will also inform the law enforcement agency,” lawyer Jesus Santos said.

Santos made the disclosure before the counsels, family of the victims and Judge Teodora Gonzales of Regional Trial Court Branch 14 in Malolos, Bulacan.

In an interview after the hearing, Santos, without revealing his source, said he received the information through a phone call night of Jan. 30.

Santos said however, that he still has to verify the information.

The prosecution lawyers said Santos’ claim might be another dilatory tactic of the defense panel to send the law enforcement agency on a wild goose chase.

“If that is really true, then Palparan and his men might be really guilty,” lawyer EdreOlalia said.

Olalia added that if Santos’ information is true, he must show proof, or just present SherlynCadapan and Karen Empeño in court.

When asked to comment on Olalia’s statements, Santos said that if the two students were still alive, it would only mean that there is no case against Palparan and other accused.

But Olalia said whether the victim of a kidnapping is dead or alive, the case would continue, especially in the case of the two female students.

He said that some of the qualifiers in a kidnapping case include: if the victim is held more than three days and if the victim is female.

“In this case, we have a kidnapping with serious illegal detention because the victims are female and are missing for about six years now,” Olalia said.

Department of Justice Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera agreed with Olalia’s observation that Santos’ statement is just “bare allegation and very dangerous claim.”

Navera argued that even if the two students turn up alive, it would not disprove the allegation that Palparan was involved in their enforced disappearance.