DOJ: BuCor rules ‘not properly observed’ in SMNI interview with Palparan
MANILA, Philippines — After conducting an investigation that went on for nearly two months, the Department of Justice has found that the rules of the Bureau of Corrections “were not properly observed” when it allowed convicted kidnapper Jovito Palparan Jr. to be interviewed on SMNI.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that among the rules that the BuCor did not follow was on granting media access to prisoners, especially high-profile inmates which require his approval, and on the prohibition on discussing pending cases.
As such, Guevarra said he has ordered BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag to explain how Palparan was interviewed while under detention. Bantag has 10 days from receipt of the show cause order to respond, after which the DOJ will determine what sanctions to impose.
“Sanctions will depend on whether or not the explanation is satisfactory,” Guevarra said.
BuCor spokesperson Gabriele Chaclag had previously said that they did not see any violation in granting SMNI’s “long standing” request to interview Palparan, who is serving his sentence at the New Bilibid Prison for kidnapping two University of the Philippines students.
SMNI, owned by fugitive preacher Apollo Quiboloy, aired an interview with Palparan from detention by Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy in a program that was also shared by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict on its official Facebook page.
The interview, said Badoy who is also a spokesperson for NTF-ELCAC, was to “vindicate” Palparan whom she claimed was convicted on “trumped up charges.”
Also during the course of the interview, Badoy and Palparan took turns accusing Vice President Leni Robredo, then a presidential candidate, of being in an alliance with communist rebels. This claim was repeated in a news segment that aired in April.
Robredo and her campaign repeatedly denied links with the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front.
Families of Palparan's victims have asked the Court of Appeals to cite Badoy and SMNI in contempt and have also sought the shutdown of the network that has recently built a reputation as a haven for pro-government personalities while maligning government critics and attacking independent media, often by baselessly accusing them of being part of the armed communist rebellion.
Its owner, Quiboloy, is a close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte and is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation over sex trafficking and other charges, which he claimed are designed to tarnish his reputation. — Xave Gregorio with reports from Kristine Joy Patag
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