On Sept. 27, the Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 19 will decide on the charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with physical injuries filed by farmer Raymond Manalo and his late twin brother, Reynaldo, against retired general Jovito Palparan Jr. and five other agents.
“Nobody deserves this unending longing and pain." MANILA – Relatives of the disappeared have once again gathered on Nov. 2 at the Bantayog ng mga Desaparecido at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Baclaran for their yearly traditional...
Evidently scared of getting physically harmed, he was brought to court handcuffed, wearing a combat helmet while closely secured by Philippine Army soldiers he once commanded. A few hours later he was taken out of the court, his head bowed in gloom. The court...
After three years of postponements, presentations, and hearings, the trial of former Army general Jovito Palparan on the abduction and torture of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño has come to an end.
"This 2018, we hope that the case against Palparan be finally resolved soon. The case has been running since 2014, and it has been a long ordeal for us and all of Palparan’s victims. We want to see him in jail this year.”
“Are they really trying to delay the case until ‘berdugong’ Palparan and his co-accused are free from accountability?”
“This is just one of his delaying tactics. He does not want to be convicted. He wants to be spared from the conditions of a regular jail.”-- Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, on Jovito Palparan Jr’s motion for reconsideration seeking transfer to a military jail in Metro Manila
In the Philippines, there is still no successful prosecution of security forces for killings, ‘disappearances,’ despite Aquino's campaign and inauguration promises for accountability.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
According to Anakbayan, one youth or student leader is being victimized every week.
By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com MANILA -- Ongoing until Feb 28 is an art exhibit that seeks to visualize the state of impunity in the Philippines. Nothing has changed in “the brazenness in the commission of human rights violations in the country,” said the End...
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com Parenthood changes you in so many good and happy ways; but there are also changes that you wish never happened. Parenthood makes you afraid. If you were fearless before and you scoffed at danger; if you were daring before and...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
In a resolution released Dec. 15, a Department of Justice (DOJ) panel found probable cause to file charges against retired Major General Jovito Palparan and his men for the abduction of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, and farmer Manuel Merino.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – She has been waiting for years but justice still remains elusive. Erlinda Cadapan, mother of the missing UP student Sherlyn Cadapan who has been missing since June 26, 2006, would never tire in her quest for justice. On...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“While we commend the courage of the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn, now human rights defenders themselves, in pursuing the criminal case, it is equally significant that the Aquino government must take concrete steps in making the roads to justice accessible for the victims and their families.” – Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – One of the soldiers linked to the abduction of two University of the Philippines (UP) students and his counsel was a no-show at the Department of Justice (DOJ) hearing today. Staff Sgt. Edgardo L. Osorio did not appear at...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
One of the alleged but still unnamed perpetrators had the gall and temerity to go to the hearing and display himself, intimidating and eyeing Ramos all throughout the hearing. He was openly thumbing his nose, as it were, at the whole justice system.” – Edre Olalia, lawyer
By SHARMAINE ANNE B. VILLANUEVA and RONALYN V. OLEA
“We will not stop seeking for justice. We will not stop until the perpetrators are punished. I cannot settle with the fact that I can only embrace my daughter in my dreams,” Erlinda Cadapan, mother of Sherlyn, said.
Sidebar: Rights groups, Justice Secretary push for bill to criminalize enforced disappearance
Watch video of the press conference held after the filing here.
Torture victim Raymond Manalo identified one of his captors, a military officer, in court during the continuation of the Cadapan-Empeño hearings at the Court of Appeals in Manila, Jan 18. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 49, January 20-26, 2008 Torture...
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