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Court of Appeals affirms Palparan conviction for kidnapping, detention of 2 students

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of retired Major General Jovito Palparan for kidnapping and serious illegal detention of 2 University of the Philippines students in 2006.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Court of Appeals First Division affirms conviction of ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan for kidnapping and serious illegal detention of 2 UP students. Reclusion perpetua (up to 40 yrs imprisonment) affirmed but penalty, interest modified. <a href="https://t.co/saFpcxRuiS">pic.twitter.com/saFpcxRuiS</a>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1533320567503613952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>The CA First Division, in a decision promulgated May 31, 2022, affirmed the reclusion perpetua (or up to 40 years imprisonment) sentence without eligibility of parole on Palparan and 2 other co-accused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Jr. and staff sergeant Edgardo Osorio.But it modified the ruling to impose a 6 percent annual interest rate on the P100,000 civil indemnity and P200,000 moral damages the trial court awarded in each case, computed from the finality of the decision until payment.A Malolos, Bulacan court in 2018 convicted Palparan of kidnapping and serious illegal detention for the disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/17/18/palparan-found-guilty-of-kidnapping-in-case-of-2-up-students">Palparan found guilty of kidnapping in case of 2 UP students</a></li></ul>Armed men seized Cadapan and Empeño from their rented house in Hagonoy, Bulacan in the afternoon of June 26, 2006.Witnesses identified one of the accused, Osorio, as among the armed men who abducted the two students.Other witnesses came forward who reported seeing them in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, in Camp Tecson in Bulacan, then to a barangay hall in Bulacan and military camps in Limay, Bataan and in Iba, Zambales.In affirming Palparan’s conviction, the CA believed the testimonies of the witnesses and ruled that all the elements of kidnapping and serious illegal detention were present.Among the witnesses was Raymond Manalo, a torture and abduction survivor, who said he was able to talk to the 2 students and saw Palparan on board a white vehicle in Camp Tecson in September 2006.“Accused-appellant Palparan’s companion in civilian attire went down the vehicle and proceeded to the cell of the two women. He fetched them and then boarded them on to the white vehicle where accused-appellant Palparan was still inside. The vehicle left and, after 3 days, the 2 women were taken back to Camp Tecson,” the CA said.Although kidnapping and serious illegal detention requires that the offender must be a private individual, the court said Palparan and the 2 co-accused can be tried by a civil court even if they were on active military service because kidnapping and serious illegal detention are not service-connected.The CA also found the 3rd and 4th elements of kidnapping and serious illegal detention are present because Cadapan and Empeño were taken illegally, without a court order. They were also both females and the detention lasted for more than 3 days.Palparan and Anotado were not physically present during the kidnapping but the CA said their visits to military camps showed they acquiesced to the taking and detention.Palparan also had control and supervision as commanding general of the 7th infantry division.CA junked the alibis of Palparan and 2 co-accused.Anotado and Osorio claimed they were in Quezon City when they were allegedly seen in Bulacan and Bataan.But the CA said it was not physically impossible for them to be in 2 places on the same day and the inconsistencies in witnesses’ statements were minor and not material.The 61-page ruling was penned by CA Associate Justice Angelene Mary Quimpo-Sale and concurred in by CA Presiding Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga Jacob.The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, counsel for the Cadapan and Empeño families, said the affirmation of Palparan’s conviction is a “loud and clear warning” to those who think they are “invincible and untouchable” while in power.“One can not get away with rights abuses just like that,” NUPL president Edre Olalia said.KARAPATAN meanwhile said the CA decision shows the “need to pursue justice and accountability through and through” despite the threats and harassment.“Sadly, Karen and She, along with many other desaparecidos remain missing, and Palparan should be made to divulge their whereabouts,” KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.Human rights activists dubbed Palparan as the “Butcher,” accusing him of being behind the abduction, torture and killing of activists in Central Luzon.In hiding for years following the issuance of a warrant of arrest in 2011 for the Cadapan-Empeño case, he was arrested in a residential area in Sta. Mesa, Manila in 2014.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/08/11/14/jovito-palparan-arrested">Jovito Palparan arrested</a></li></ul>He has been incarcerated at the New Bilibid Prison since his conviction in 2018.Palparan again became controversial when he recently granted an interview to SMNI while inside the NBP, where he sought to discredit his conviction.The Department of Justice found Bureau of Correction rules were not properly observed and asked the BuCor chief to explain.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/03/22/doj-rules-not-properly-observed-in-palparan-interview">DOJ: Palparan interview did ‘not properly observe’ BuCor rules on media access</a></li></ul>

The Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of retired Major General Jovito Palparan for kidnapping and serious illegal detention of 2 students in 2006.

Court of Appeals affirms Palparan conviction for kidnapping, detention of 2 students

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Court of Appeals affirms Palparan conviction for kidnapping, detention of 2 students

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 05, 2022 04:59 PM PHT

Read More:

justice

Court of Appeals

Jovito Palparan

kidnapping

illegal detention

Sherlyn Cadapan

Karen Empeño

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