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“The arrest of Jovito Palparan, a retired army major general, marks a rare challenge to the country’s rampant impunity, which the government of President Benigno Aquino III has failed to adequately address,” Carlos Conde, Human Rights Watch
SPECIAL REPORT: His eyewitness account, lauded by the Supreme Court for being clear, categorical, consistent and credible, served as among the evidences that led to the filing of charges of two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention for the enforced disappearance of the two students of the University of the Philippines Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, along with farmer Manuel Merino, on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
Faculty and students of the University of the Philippines burned an effigy of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, popularly known as 'The Butcher' and accused in the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan. At a protest program at the...
“With boundless hope and bated breath, may justice find its place amidst tragedy and the many lives that have been snatched, futures destroyed and agonizing years that have passed.”– Edre Olalia, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
In his motion submitted before the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 14, lawyer Abner Torres, who is one of the lawyers of the accused military officials, said he is not fit to travel due to “loose vowel movement.”
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“…the accused were afforded due process and were properly informed of the nature and cause of the accusations against them.” – Judge Teodora Gonzales
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“While the likes of Palparan and Reyes who have clear charges against them continue to roam freely, activists and ordinary people are being arrested and detained arbitrarily on trumped up criminal charges to conceal the political nature of their arrests and detention.” – Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Karapatan
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We are watching very closely. The present administration must demonstrate that the Philippines has turned the page and a new chapter where freedom and justice prevail has begun.” – Beaconsfield United Church of Canada
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 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 Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Remember Jovito Palparan Jr., the notorious Philippine Army officer tagged by militant political activists as “The Butcher”? In 2007 the Melo Commission recommended Palparan’s investigation for extrajudicial...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
A group of human-rights lawyers has vowed to take what it called a "legal offensive" to curb impunity and advance the cause of human rights in the Philippines.
Sidebar: Photo Contest Highlights Fight Vs. Impunity in Philippines
“The Philippine government is boasting that it is a signatory to the nine core conventions of the UN and yet, it violates these conventions,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairwoman of Karapatan, said. By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA -- The case of Benjaline “Beng”...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
After the attempt on his brother-in-law’s life, peasant leader Dario Tomada fled to Luzon and took on different jobs to support his family back in Leyte. Five years later, he was arrested by soldiers for 15 counts of murder that allegedly took place in 1984 -- when he was still peacefully tilling a small piece of land and was not involved in any organization.
Today, the number of political activists and critics killed and missing has surpassed several times over the number of suspected ASG members killed or captured. The “war on terror” has given the government an excuse to go after legal people’s organizations, to...
NEWS RELEASE February 28, 2010 DAVAO CITY – Bayan Muna councilor bet for the 1st district Joel Virador hits the camp of retired Major General Jovito Palparan and ANAD Partylist Representative Jun Alcover for their continued vilification campaign against progressive...
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Long before National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera discovered that the military had been watching him, Jun Cruz Reyes, an award-winning writer, has been the subject of surveillance and harassment that began in 2006.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Court of Appeals has granted the Filipino-American activist's amparo and habeas data petitions, saying that Melissa Roxas’s story was credible. But it also pointed out that Roxas failed to show that the military was behind her abduction and torture, hence President Arroyo and elements of the armed forces cannot be made respondents in the case.
The Philippine military, through its attack dogs Pastor Alcover and Jovito Palparan, are trying to discredit the Commission on Human Rights and its chairperson, Leila de Lima. Human-rights groups are understandably concerned. “Now that the CHR chairperson insists on the mandate of the commission, they consider her as an enemy,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez of Karapatan said. “That is the most dangerous mindset.”
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