Palparan jailed in Bulacan

MALOLOS, Bulacan (UPDATED) –  A local court on Monday, August 18, rejected a plea by retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr to remain in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila, reiterating an earlier order detaining him at the Bulacan Provincial jail here.

Judge Teodora Gonzales ordered Palparan’s immediate detention at the Bulacan Provincial Jail.

He was brought to jail at around 11 am.

Watch Palparan being escorted into the jail below

 

Activists and families of Palparan’s alleged victims screamed and cried as Palparan was brought by guards to his detention area. 

Earlier in court, Palparan twice appealed to Judge Gonzales of Branch 14 of the Malolos Regional Trial Court to allow him to stay in the NBI headquarters in Manila.

‘I value my life’

“I am used to suffering your honor. I am not asking for special treatment, but all I ask is a secured environment because I value my life,” Palparan said. “If I am committed there [Bulacan jail] my enemies will start running after me. There have been incidents of violence in that jail and it might happen again.”

But the judge rejected Palparan’s plea because the NBI itself said they could not detain him indefinitely.

Palparan, called the “butcher” by human rights groups, was arrested on August 12, 2014 after nearly 3 years in hiding. He faces charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the 2006 disappearance of two activists in Bulacan – Karen Empeno and Sheryl Cadapan. 

A day after his arrest, Judge Gonzales ordered his detention in Bulacan, but the NBI said it was not prepared to transfer him last week.

Palparan’s counsel Eduardo Millares asked the court Monday for leniency, saying his client “has risked his life for this country.” The judge would hear none of it.

Bulacan was once the hotbed of the communist insurgency. Under the Arroyo regime, it was the subject of a massive campaign by the Philippine military to weed out the mass supporters of the rebel New People’s Army.

Between 2005 and 2006, Palparan served as commanding general of the military’s 7th infantry division, which commanded troops in central Luzon, including Bulacan. Activists accused him of ordering the abduction, torture and killing of civilians, a claim he branded as mere propaganda.(READ: Waiting for Jovito Palparan) – Rappler.com

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