1st Cadapan-Empeño court hearing, Malolos City, Jan. 2, 2012

1st Cadapan-Empeño Court Hearing:
Human Rights activists stage picket
in support of the mothers of missing students

Malolos City, Bulacan

January 2, 2012

■ Bonus Tracks: The Bulacan Provincial Capitol



Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen		Erlinda Cadapan, mother of Sherlyn
Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General and member of panel pf private prosecutors		“We welcome and agree with the judge’s firm and clear ruling that fugitive Gen. Palparan cannot seek relief, if at all, unless he surrenders or is arrested. He cannot have his cake and eat it too while trifling with the judicial and legal process. The mothers continue to protest the dubious and sleight of hand transfer of his co-accused to military custody based on the Army intelligence group’s invocation of an ancient and obscure 1937 executive order issued by President Manuel Quezon and Interior Secretary Elpidio Quirino. It is essentially thumbing the nose versus the basic sense of fairness and decency.” ---- From: statement of panel of private prosecutor

Photos by Arkibong Bayan, NUPL and Sarah Raymundo as indicated by the filenames


x NUPL on the 1st Cadapan-Empeno Court Hearing Press Statement 2 January 2012 As the court heard today the charges of Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention against Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and three others involving the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) private prosecutors said: “We welcome and agree with the judge’s firm and clear ruling that fugitive Gen. Palparan cannot seek relief, if at all, unless he surrenders or is arrested. He cannot have his cake and eat it too while trifling with the judicial and legal process. The mothers continue to protest the dubious and sleight of hand transfer of his co-accused to military custody based on the Army intelligence group’s invocation of an ancient and obscure 1937 executive order issued by President Manuel Quezon and Interior Secretary Elpidio Quirino. It is essentially thumbing the nose versus the basic sense of fairness and decency.” # Reference (Panel of Private Prosecutors): Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General, 09175113373 Atty. Ephraim B. Cortez, NUPL Assistant Secretary General for Legal Services Atty. Julian F. Oliva Atty. Jobert Pahilga Atty. Cristina Yambot --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 suspects in missing students case back ‘at home’: Private prosecutors disturbed, agitated over transfer of custody of 2 accused to the army Press Statement December 28, 2011 The panel of private prosecutors from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) handling the case of the two missing UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan on the reported transfer to the custody of the Philippine Army of the two co-accused of Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan: “We are disturbed and agitated to have just learned from news reports that two of the accused in the case of the 2 missing UP students, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, were transferred over the weekend to Fort Bonifacio and taken into custody by the army. This is unacceptable. It was done without us being notified at all. We were totally clueless about this. They pulled a fast one again. This will definitely not sit well with a lot of people. It will further enrage the victims, their families, human rights defenders and the public if the same arrangement happens to Palparan should he be arrested, if at all. The transfer of their custody to the army does not inspire confidence in our justice system. It practically means they will be ‘at home’ in the good company and graces of their own who will coddle and cuddle them. It dilutes the significant gain of making the perpetrators of human rights violations accountable and to be treated without any special accommodation. All of the accused in the disappearance of Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan must be jailed in an ordinary civilian penal facility where they rightfully belong.” # Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General (09175113373)





			Interviewing the mothers of the 2 abducted UP students


Statue of Rizal and two other heroes in front of the Hall of Justice			Hall of Justice where the 1st Cadapan-Empeñp was held


			x Private prosecutors in case of 2 missing UP students welcome bounty for immediate arrest of Palparan Press Statement December 27, 2011 The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) welcomes the P500,000 bounty put up by authorities for any information leading to the arrest of Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. If it will be an additional incentive to bring in a fugitive running scared and in denial that the time of reckoning has come and who must be held accountable for other crimes against humanity and international humanitarian law pending or about to be filed in the courts, then so be it. Any legitimate effort to further inform the public to turn him in is fine. At the end of the day, with all its powers, machinery and resources, it is incumbent on the government to arrest forthwith and bring before the bar of justice the highest military officer to be ever indicted for human rights violations in the country. He must be reunited with his avid fan, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in an ordinary jailhouse sooner than later.# Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General (09175113373) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NUPL on Palparan’s being a fugitive from justice Press Statement 21 December 2011 In light of Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan’s being a fugitive from justice, his remarks to Judge Teodora Gonzales who issued the warrant of arrest against him, and his criticisms on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Atty. Edre Olalia said: “Palparan is hopelessly incorrigible and his braggadocio is incomparable. The highest military officer ever criminally indicted for human rights violations is now spewing veiled threats versus the judge and venom versus the justice secretary. He has done that to anyone who stands in his way. He must now turn himself in to the authorities and stop being the coward and heartless creature that he really is. He tried to sneak out of the country while the whole nation was sadly riveted by a horrible calamity of tragic proportions. He should face the music and leave the lawyering to his counsels.” Atty. Olalia is the Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and a member of the panel of private prosecutors in the criminal case against Palparan involving the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan. Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General, 09175113373
Panel of private prosecutors and staff








x NUPL on Palparan’s attempt to leave the country Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL secretary-general on the reported attempt of Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan to leave the country this morning: “Days after the release of the DOJ resolution implicating him in the disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, the bid of Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan to sneak out of the country is a manifest attempt to flee justice. Flight is an indication of guilt. The poster boy of GMA-sanctioned heinous rights violations is obviously pulling a fast one again. He has been lying through his teeth for the longest time and everything that comes out of his mouth is a barefaced lie. As he is guilty as hell, Palparan’s arrest must be done with dispatch. He is as remorseless as he is cunning and arrogant. This latest stunt patently shreds off any of his pretensions.” Reference: Atty. Edre Olalia (0917-511-3373) -------------------------------------------------------- Arrest Palparan Now! Press Statement December 16, 2011 More than five years and five months after the disappearance of Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, the DOJ found probable cause to the charges against Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio. Finally, Palparan and his cohorts in the military will be tried in court for the crime of Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention of the 2 UP students. Holding Palparan for trial is long overdue amidst the several crimes he perpetrated against activists and those who espouse dissent amidst injustice. While this is just the start of a long and rigorous trial to account Palparan for his crimes, this is a significant victory for human rights defenders and a big step towards ensuring respect for human rights in a country that has witnessed monstrous human rights violations in the past decade. At long last, justice has caught up with Gen. Palparan and his ilk. The resolution sends a strong, clear and loud message to human rights violators that they cannot just get away with their inhumane acts and that there is no other place for them but behind bars. It should help abate the longstanding climate of impunity, the offspring of the anti-insurgency policy of the state that has no regard for human rights and the law. We call for the immediate arrest of the perpetrators and ask that the 2 UP students and other victims of enforced disappearances be surfaced. We shall continue to be determined to make other violators like former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other top civil, military and police officials accountable for their high crimes against the people. We challenge PNoy to act decisively on the other cases of rights violations.# Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General (09175113373)
			Jigs Clamor of KARAPATAN

			BAYAN - Bulacan spokesperson
			RG Tesa, STAND-UP



			x Mothers of missing UP students ask Malolos court on its first hearing to bring surrendered soldiers back to regular jail Today marks the first hearing at the Malolos City Regional Trial Court on the cases of kidnapping and serious illegal detention filed by the mothers of missing University of the Philippines activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno against "The Butcher" Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio. "We ask the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 14 to withdraw its grant to place the Lt. Col. Anotado and S/Sgt. Osorio in military custody. We believe that they should be put in a regular detention facility without any special treatment," Linda Cadapan and Connie Empeño, mothers of Sherlyn and Karen respectively, said today. Osorio and Anotado surrendered to the authorities on Dec. 21, 2011 after a warrant of arrest against was issued. It was during the Christmas holidays when Anotado and Osorio were permitted by the said court to be under military custody by grounds of threat to their security. Yet, Palparan and Hilario remain fugitives. "Palparan and Hilario should face the court first. What they are doing is an act of cowardice," the mothers of the two desaparecidos said. "We continue to ask the Filipino nation to join us in the ‘People's Manhunt’ for Palparan and Hilario. It is already up to us, the people, to help put butchers like Palparan to justice. If we let human rights violators walk free, more violations can happen in our country,” the searching mothers continue. "We also ask the authorities to NOT stop until they find the two fugitives," Cadapan and Empeno said. Families of Desaparecidos for Justice (Desaparecidos), Karapatan and End Impunity Alliance join the two mothers and their pool of lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers as they attend the hearing at the Malolos Court. A picket was also conducted outside the court premises to push for the immediate arrest of Palparan. "If the Pnoy government is truly serious in putting notorious violators to justice, he could have declared the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Bill in Congress as a priority measure and pave way for its immediate passage. The crime of enforced disappearance should be the charges against Palparan and his cohorts, and not a kidnapping case," Lorena P. Santos, deputy secretary general of Desaparecidos, says. "It is only through this bill that former president Gloria Arroyo and her minions will be held responsible for the crime of enforced disappearance,” Santos clears out. "The Congress and this government should enforce this bill into law NOW," Santos ends. ###



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x Karapatan to P-Noy government: Search the military camps for Palparan Submitted on Tue, 12/27/2011 - 15:15 Karapatan National Press release Karapatan calls on the government teams tasked to find the fugitive Ret. Major General Palparan to search the military camps in the country. “In a sudden twist of fate, he might be seeking refuge in the same camps where Karen, Sherlyn and other victims of enforced disappearances were held and tortured,” said Jigs Clamor, secretary general of Karapatan. “We won’t be surprised if Palparan’s co-implementers of Oplan Bantay Laya are coddling him as they are like-minded. The AFP admires Palparan for his role in the government’s insurgency program. It is likely that Palparan will seek refuge in the same structure that nurtured his fangs, with people of the same mindset that implemented the OBL and are now implementing the Oplan Bayanihan,” added Clamor. Clamor said that, “Palparan brazenly lied when he said that he will face the charges against him. After the Branch 14 of the Malolos Regional Trial Court took cognizance of the case and after the issuance of the warrants of arrest and now the hold departure order, the Butcher seemed to have eaten his words.” A news report aired on television showed Palparan wearing a cap, shades and a jacket at the immigration counter. “The butcher hid from the airport CCTV cameras and tried to sneak out of the country. Palparan’s failed attempt to escape drags him nowhere but to hiding. With absolute cowardice, the arrogant general who boasts of his counter-insurgency campaigns is now on the run,” said Clamor. Palparan was responsible for the string of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations during the Arroyo administration. “He must come out and answer for his crimes. He must rot in jail. However, the apprehension of Palparan does not guarantee that impunity will no longer exist. As long as this government continues to implement counter-insurgency program, such as the Oplan Bayanihan, human rights violations persists and the people will surely go after its implementers,” concluded Clamor. ###
			Stuart Howell, human rights advocate from London

			Rev. Bill Phipps of the United Church of Canada



			x Mothers of missing UP students call for people's manhunt for Palparan Submitted on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 14:04 Desaparecidos National Press release We welcome the issuance of warrants of arrest for Ret. Major General Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Master Sergeant Rizal Hilario, and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio for charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention of our daughters, Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno. The Department of Justice resolution finding probable cause against them on these charges is a product of our arduous and persevering struggle for justice and to end impunity in the country. For us, it also signifies the start of a long and rigorous trial to hold Palparan and other human rights violators accountable. Such impunity is wrought by the brazen commission of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of human rights violations under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime. Such violations continue with impunity to this date under the Aquino administration, which has been remiss in pursuing justice for the victims and has sustained the same kind of counter-insurgency measure which terrorizes and wantonly violates human rights. We emphasize that this significant victory is to the credit of the victims of human rights violations and their kin, the survivor-witnesses, human rights defenders, the people’s movement and the freedom-loving Filipino people – we who have kept and held the torch of justice flaming even during the darkest hours. We call on our kababayans to help us continue this journey to achieve justice. We call on the public, with the warrants of arrest issued against Palparan et al, to join us in this public manhunt to ensure that he and his cohorts be immediately arrested, put to jail and prosecuted for the grave human rights violations they committed. We urge you to remain one with us in demanding that Karen, Sherlyn and all victims of enforced disappearances be surfaced. We shall remain steadfast in our struggle for justice and realization of human rights in the country, as we make all human rights violators, including former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and top civil, military and police officials accountable for their high crimes against the people.###







x Gov’t must use all its resources to find and jail Palparan Submitted on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 13:33 Karapatan National Press release “There is no other destination for Palparan but in jail. The government should use all the resources at their disposal to find, arrest and jail Palparan et al,” said Karapatan deputy secretary general, Jigs Clamor. Palparan, who served as GMA’s henchman, was responsible for hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations. “Oddly, the butcher General invokes his “right to travel” when he was offloaded in an aircraft bound to Singapore. The human rights violator is now talking of rights. For years, the families of his victims were deprived of a decent Christmas and other significant family occasions when Palparan and his men took away their loved ones,” added Clamor. “Palparan must be immediately apprehended after the Bulacan Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest yesterday. After Palparan’s failed attempt to flee, the Court must issue a Hold Departure Order to prevent him from leaving the country,” said Clamor. On May 4, Connie Empeño and Linda Cadapan, mothers of the two missing students, filed the criminal case against Palparan, with the support of various rights and people’s organizations. “The two mothers had to initiate the filing of the case because after almost a year of the Aquino administration, P-Noy hasn’t lifted a finger on the cases against rights violators. They could no longer wait. The Filipino people had to do it on our own,” said Clamor. The Cadapan-Empeño case against Palparan is among the cases filed against rights violators under the GMA regime. Other cases include the P6-million civil case filed by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) against GMA; the motion to resolve the criminal and administrative cases filed by torture survivors Raymond Manalo and Oscar Leuterio at the Ombudsman; and the civil case filed by the “Morong 43” against GMA and her security officials moral and exemplary damages “GMA and Palparan’s barefaced acts give us more reason not to be complacent. We will not stop in our quest for justice until Karen, Sherlyn and other victims of enforced disappearance are surfaced and until perpetrators are behind bars,” ended Clamor. ### ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Karapatan calls for the immediate arrest of Palparan, et al Submitted on Fri, 12/16/2011 - 17:03 Desaparecidos EMJP Hustisya Karapatan National Press release Karapatan welcomes the resolution of the Department of Justice (DOJ) finding probable cause on the cases filed against Ret. Maj. General Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Master Sergeant Rizal Hilario and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio with two counts of kidnapping and serious Illegal Detention for the abduction of two missing UP students, Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006. The DOJ released the resolution on December 15. Clamor said that "this is a step towards attaining justice to the victims, their families who initiated the filing of the case against Palparan because of the P-Noy administration's inaction on the human rights violations under GMA." The mothers of Sherly and Karen, supported by rights and lawyers groups, filed the complaint last May. "We call on the DOJ to immediately issue a Hold Departure Order against Palparan and the other respondents. We challenge Chief Justice Corona and the rest of the Supreme Court Justices not to obstruct any measure to ensure that Palparan, who is GMA’s favorite ‘butcher’, is immediately arrested and ends up in jail for his long list of crimes against the people,” said Jigs Clamor, deputy secretary general of Karapatan. The Supreme Court earlier issued a temporary restraining order on the issuance of Watch list and Hold Departure Orders. Karapatan also calls on Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to act promptly on the filing of the case with the Sandiganbayan. The families of the missing students have long been waiting for the resolution to come out. We should not give any opportunity to Palparan to evade justice. Karapatan demands for the speedy disposition of the case. No dilatory tactics should be allowed nor special treatment be accorded to Palparan and his officers like what was accorded to GMA,” Clamor concluded. ###













News Reports

No relief for Palparan, Hilario By Dino Balabo Home Updated January 02, 2012 01:31 PM 0 comment to this post MALOLOS CITY, Philippines -- Fugitives Army general Jovito Palparan and MSgt. MSgt. Rizal Hilario cannot seek relief from the abduction and illegal detention charges filed against them. Speaking to reporters after the first hearing on the case, Lawyer Edre Olalia said Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 14 here categorically said that the two cannot seek relief from the court. ”They are still at large and are still not under the jurisdiction of the court,” Olalia said.Read more ----------------------------------------- Moms of missing UP students want Palparan co-accused moved to regular jail By Tetch Torres INQUIRER.net 3:14 pm \| Monday, January 2nd, 2012 MANILA, Philippines—The mothers of two missing University of the Philippines students on Monday asked the Malolos City Regional Trial Court to put the surrendered soldiers who are co-accused of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. in a regular jail.Read more ---------------------------------------- Judge says no court relief for Palparan unless he surrenders (The Philippine Star) Updated January 03, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (6) MALOLOS CITY ,Philippines – Retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. and co-accused M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario cannot seek relief from the court while they are at large, a lawyer said yesterday. Quoting Judge Teodora Gonzales of the Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 14, lawyer Edre Olalia said Palparan and Hilario have not yet been placed under the jurisdiction of the court. Meanwhile, lawyers of two missing University of the Philippines students have questioned the transfer of Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio from the Bulacan Provincial Jail to Fort Bonifacio two days before Christmas.Read more			Palparan ordered by court to surrender PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 2, 2012 By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com “If he is not guilty, why does he hide? He has to have the courage to face the truth.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño MALOLOS, Bulacan – As long as retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. remains at large, he could not seek relief from the court. Read more -------------------------- Editorial Palparan and publicity Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:22 pm \| Monday, January 2nd, 2012 Last week the Association of General and Flag Officers Inc. called for a halt to the “undue trial by publicity” of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan who faces kidnapping, serious illegal detention and other charges and carries a P500,000 bounty on his head. Retired Lt. Gen. Raul Urgello, Agfo chair and president, said they were disturbed by “the exploitation of the case of Palparan, who has not yet been convicted by any court of law, and his projection as a serial murderer, a “berdugo” [butcher] based on pieces of evidence that are yet to be scrutinized in due process by the court.” But Palparan is not being subjected to trial by publicity. If there has been a lot of news stories about him, it is because of the serious charges filed against such a high-ranking military officer. And if the publicity intensified lately, it is because Palparan, after promising that he would face the charges against him, tried to escape from the clutches of the law by trying to board a plane for Singapore. And after formal charges were filed against him, Palparan simply vanished into thin air. Now law enforcement agencies are trying to track him down. What do his fellow generals want the media do, ignore such a big story for fear that they may be subjecting him to “trial by publicity”? ....................... Read more ---------------------------------- Court rejects Palparan's move to have arrest warrant recalled \| More \| Monday, January 2, 2012 THE Malolos, Bulacan regional trial court rejected Monday a retired Army general's move to recall the arrest warrant issued against him after he was accused of kidnapping and detaining two students. The court turned down Retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan's motion and also claimed jurisdiction over the cases during its first hearing on Monday. Read more



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Atty Edre Olalia, NUPL Secretary General, at Malolos RTC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9fBhyYJofo Malolos, Bulacan January 2, 2012 First hearing of the case vs Palparan et al




BONUS TRACKS The Bulacan Provincial Capitol




















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