When Raymond Manalo suddenly stood up and shouted invectives at former general and now congressman Jovito Palparan during a hearing yesterday at the Commission on Human Rights, he was only venting his frustration that the man he had accused of abducting him and torturing him for 18 long months has not been punished and, instead, is seemingly enjoying his new perch in Congress.

“You son of a bitch!” Manalo shouted in Filipino during the hearing of the case of Melissa Roxas at the CHR. “You had me abducted!”

Manalo is the Bulacan farmer who, along with his brother Reynaldo, was abducted and tortured allegedly by Palparan’s men. Raymond and his brother managed to escape but not before witnessing the horrible fates of others like him, such as UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.

He has testified before the courts and before the United Nations but those who tortured him remain free.

Click here for Bulatlat’s coverage of Raymond Manalo’s story.

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