MANILA, Philippines — A Bulacan court rejected the appeal of retired Army general Jovito Palparan Jr. against his conviction for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
In a decision released Thursday, Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 15 said Palparan failed to present new arguments in his motion of reconsideration filed September 18 to convince the court to reverse its decision.
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Palparan, whom activists had accused of abuse and extrajudicial killings as part of a government counterinsurgency campaign, was found guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection to the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.
Palparan and his co-accused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Jr. and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, have been sentenced with reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for between 20 to 30 years. They were also ordered to pay a P100,000 civil indemnity and P200,000 in moral damages.
Judge Alexander Tamayo said Palparan’s assertions were a “rehash of their previous stand which had been passed upon and resolved extensively in the assailed decision.”
“The court has carefully perused the argument raised in accused motion for reconsideration and those contained in the people’s comment or opposition thereto and finds the motion for reconsideration offering no justification to compel this court to modify or reverse the assailed decision dated September 17, 2018,” Tamayo said.
Following his conviction, Palparan was transferred to the New Bilibid Prison from the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. — Gaea Katreena Cabico