EDITORIAL - Manhunt for Palparan

How hard is it to find a prominent fugitive in this country? Hard enough for the government to dangle a reward of P500,000 for information leading to the capture of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. The man who reinvented himself as a party-list representative upon his retirement from the military has disappeared since his arrest was ordered by the Bulacan Regional Trial Court shortly before Christmas Day.

Palparan is wanted in connection with the disappearance of University of the Philippines student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006. The two, who remain missing, were reportedly tortured and detained at an Army camp in Central Luzon when Palparan was the Army’s commander in the area. Palparan has denied involvement in the disappearance of the students.

The last time Palparan was seen, according to the National Bureau of Investigation, he was in the company of heavily armed men. Palparan owns a security agency. He had tried to fly to Singapore on Dec. 19 through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga, shortly after the Department of Justice ordered his indictment for kidnapping and serious illegal detention. After being barred from leaving, he disappeared.

Wanted posters bearing the image of the man dubbed as “The Butcher” have since spread across the country, no doubt with the help of militant groups that have long accused him of responsibility for the torture, disappearance and summary execution of many left-wing activists. Yet Palparan continues to elude arrest, raising suspicion that he is getting help from some of his former colleagues in the military.

Meanwhile, his two co-accused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, have secured a court order, without the knowledge of the DOJ, to be transferred from the Bulacan provincial jail to the Philippine Army headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig.

Earlier, the Armed Forces of the Philippines had expressed readiness to assist in the hunt for Palparan. Apart from assisting, the AFP brass should send the message down the ranks that anyone found harboring a fugitive will face sanctions. Palparan is innocent until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt, and he deserves due process. But his trial should be seen as part of a cleansing process in the AFP. In a democracy, there must be no room for kidnapping, torture and summary execution in the military.