Abducted brothers identify Palparan as ‘culprit’

THEY said they were taken in broad daylight on February 14, 2006 by armed men of the 7th Infantry Division in Luzon which was then under the command of Major General Jovito Palparan. And for 18 months they were tortured almost every day. They were “beaten severely, bathed in their urine, whipped with a chain with a barbed wire attached to its end, had water poured in their nostrils, and were made to eat rotten food.” They were also threatened that their families would be harmed if they escaped.

But brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, farm workers from San Ildefonso, Bulacan, were able to escape and lived to tell the harrowing ordeal they went through under the military.

The reason for the abduction was not clear, but during their captivity, they learned that they were being linked to leftist activities.

According to the brothers, they were moved to different military facilities and houses. They were allegedly taken to a detachment in San Ildefonso, Bulacan; to a detachment in Sapang, San Miguel, Bulacan; Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan; a military camp of the 24th Infantry Battalion in Limay, Bataan; a house in Zambales; and a house in Pangasinan where they were able to escape on August 13.

The brothers were not presented to the media. But in a handwritten statement, Raymond identified Palparan, Sgt. Rizal Hilario, and other officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), as well as members of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), as having been present or actively taken part in their physical and psychological torture in the 18 months of their forced disappearance.

“Habang nakakulong ako, kinakausap ako ni General Jovito Palparan. Nakita ko na si General Palparan dati sa telebisyon kaya ko siya nakilala at doon sinabi sa akin ni Palparan na sabihan ko sina nanay na huwag nang sumali sa mga rally ng mga grupong mga makarapatang tao at huwag nang dumalo sa mga hearing sa Camp Tecson at Limay, Bataan (While I was detained, General Jovito Palparan was talking to me. I have seen General Palparan on television, that’s how I knew it was him. Palparan told me to warn my mother against joining human rights rallies and that they should no longer attend the hearings at Camp Tecson and Limay, Bataan),” he said.

Palparan, who has retired from military service, has not issued any statement about the allegations.

Raymond also narrated how they met University of the Philippines (UP) students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in their detention camp. Cadapan and Empeno were allegedly taken by armed men in Bulacan on June 26, 2006 and have not been seen since then.

“Sa kulungan nakasama namin ang dalawang estudyante ng University of the Philippines na sina Sherlyn Cadapan at Karen Empeno. Napag-alaman namin kung sino sila dahil nakakausap namin sila. Nakita namin kung paano sila sinaktan din ng mga kumulong sa amin. (We were with University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno at the detention camp. We got to know who they were because we were able to talk to them. We saw how they were tortured by the people who took us).”

Raymond also mentioned Manuel Mirino, another farmer who were abducted with the two UP students. “Habang nakakulong nakita naming pinatay si Manuel Mirino, kasamahan nina Sherlyn at Karen. Nakasama at nakakausap din namin si Manuel sa kulungan. Isang gabi, inilabas si Manuel sa kulungan at dinala sa hindi kalayuang lugar mula sa amin. Mamaya konti patay na si Manuel at sinisilaban na. (In detention we saw the killing of Manuel Mirino, companion of Sherlyn and Karen. Manuel was also with us, we used to talk. One night, Manuel was taken out of the prison and was brought to a nearby place. A little later, Manuel was dead, his body was set on fire).”

In a petition filed before the Supreme Court Thursday, the brothers Manalo sought the High Court’s intervention. Aside from an appeal for prohibition, injunction, and a temporary restraining order, the brothers, through the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), sought other legal and equitable reliefs. They asked that the Supreme Court take immediate protective custody of them and that the High Court appoint an independent commissioner from among its ranks or a retired justice to investigate the case.

Read the petition here.

The brothers also sought other relief and orders available under the 1987 Constitution and the Rules of Court.

The Charter’s Article VIII, Section 5(5) gives the Supreme Court the power to “promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights.” Rule 135, Section 6 of the Rules of Court meanwhile states: “When by law, jurisdiction is conferred on a court or judicial officer, all auxiliary writs, processes and other means necessary to carry it into effect may be employed by such court or officer; and if the procedure to be followed in the exercise of such jurisdiction is not specifically pointed out by law or by these rules, any suitable process or mode of proceeding may be adopted which appears conformable to the spirit of said law or rules.”

The Manalo brothers sought protection from the Supreme Court because of the danger posed to their life and liberty, and the fact that they could no longer trust the military, the police, and even the Witness Protection and Benefits Program of the Department of Justice.

The family of the brothers earlier sought the help of the Court of Appeals (CA) for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus against Palparan, Hilario, and then Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon as Commanding General of the Philippine Army, to produce the brothers. The CA cleared the military of any involvement in the disappearance.

The case, which was described by FLAG’s Theodore Te as “groundbreaking” for being unprecedented in the reliefs sought, could prove to be the test case for the judiciary’s activist stance on human rights issues. It will be recalled that last month, the High Court, through the initiative of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, organized a multisectoral consultative summit on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

The Chief Justice said that the Summit was timely “to prevent losing eye contact with these killings and disappearances, revive our righteous indignation, and spur our united search for the elusive solution to this pestering problem.”