“Duterte should see for himself how much the government is spending for these criminals.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MALOLOS, Bulacan – The mothers of two missing University of the Philippines (UP) students are inviting President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to attend the trial against retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and two other accused here at a Malolos regional trial court.
“Duterte should see for himself how much the government is spending for these criminals… Only to find out that the trial would be reset due to unexplained absences by the lawyers of the accused,” Erlinda Cadapan told Bulatlat, in apparent exasperation after the hearing was postponed on June 16.
The next hearing will be on July 14.
Every hearing since Palparan’s arrest in 2014, a phalanx of police and soldiers barricades the Malolos regional trial court. Soldiers both in uniform and plain clothes also roam the provincial capitol compound and its immediate vicinity.
Palparan and his co-accused Col. Felipe Anotado and Sgt. Edgardo Osorio are facing a kidnapping and serious illegal detention case for the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.
The two students were abducted with farmer Manuel Merino in Hagonoy, Bulacan in June 26, 2006. Their families and friends have carried on the search for almost 10 years now.
Hearing postponed
The hearing was postponed due to the absence of the lawyers of Anotado and Osorio, Abner Torres and Bonifacio Alentajan, respectively. National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – National Capital Region president Julian Oliva Jr. said Osorio was supposed to present evidence during the hearing today.
Judge Alexander Tamayo said the lawyers’ failure to attend is an indication that they are delaying the case. He issued a show cause order, which directed them to explain their absence in writing and pay the corresponding postponement fine.
When the kidnapping and serious illegal detention case was still being heard at Branch 14, both Anotado and Osorio, apart from their own testimonies, failed to present witnesses, despite being given several scheduled hearings.
Cadapan said she could not help but be furious over the postponement of today’s hearing. She travelled all the way from Los Banos, Laguna to be in court.
“Nilalaro nila ang aming karapatan,” (They’re taking our rights for granted) she quipped, adding that their search has gone on for a decade now.
She added, “Perhaps they are hoping that we would get tired. But we would never get tired.”
Waive Anotado’s evidence?
During the hearing, Oliva manifested that Torres, who is representing Anotado, failed to submit his formal offer of evidence. The Malolos court earlier directed Torres to submit this five days after receipt of his April 28 court order.
State prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera asked the court to waive the filing of the formal offer of evidence.
Judge Tamayo, for his part, said he would give the accused “all the chances,” and gave them another five days upon receipt of order to submit their formal offer of evidence. Alentajan was also directed to submit a list of witnesses for Osorio.
The judge also warned the defense camp from further delaying the case.
“We hope that the defense would heed Judge Tamayo’s decision this time. And if they fail to do so, then it should be waived,” Concepcion Empeño, Karen’s mother, said after the hearing.
Palparan and several members of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units (Cafgu) are also facing another kidnapping and serious illegal detention case before the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 19, this time filed by the Manalo brothers, Raymond and Reynaldo.
The two were abducted, tortured, and detained in various military camps in Central Luzon from February 2006 to 2007. They met both Karen and Sherlyn during their detention in a military camp in Bataan and their testimonies were essential in the indictment of Palparan and his co-accused.
