DOJ hit for backing special treatment to Palparan

MANILA, Philippines - Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors were accused yesterday of backing the special treatment allegedly being given to retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) claims to have received information that public prosecutors would not support a motion of private prosecutors to transfer Palparan from Fort Bonifacio to a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Bicutan, Taguig.

Public prosecutors must agree to any motion of private prosecutors for it to be valid.

Bayan chairman Carol Araullo said the DOJ is backing Palparan’s continued detention at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

“From the time Palparan was arrested, there have been talks of so-called threats to Palparan yet these have never been verified by authorities,” she said.

Araullo said the “so-called intelligence reports are being used to justify special treatment for Palparan.”

She said the DOJ has not shown enough zeal in going after human rights violators and appears to be more interested in politically motivated cases against the Liberal Party’s foes.

“If only the Aquino administration has shown as much interest in prosecuting rights violators as it does political foes of the regime, then maybe there could be more ranking officials behind bars now,” she said.