The trial of kidnapping with serious illegal detention case
against Ret. Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan pushed through on Monday morning
with the cross examination of a primary witness that earlier pinpointed the
controversial military officer as the one behind the abduction of missing UP
students Karen Empeño and Shierlyn Cadapan.
Prosecution witness Raymond Manalo again reiterated his
earlier testimony that he saw Palparan three times when he was also brought to
a military camp.
Manalo again told the court that he saw the two missing
students being tortured and at one time saw them hogtied naked.
The lawyers of Palparan, however, dismissed Manalo’s
testimonies as “inconsistent” saying that it was not the latter’s own but a
“scripted” piece.
Lawyer Narzal Mallares said that because his client
(Palparan) is famous anybody can impersonate him and the witness might have
pointed to a wrong guy.
Aside from this, Mallares said that based on their cross
examination on Manalo, it only strengthen their claim that the criminal charges
filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against his client is clearly wrong.
Mallares explained that Palparan was still in active duty
when the abduction of the two students happened and that the general was only
doing his job as a military officer.
On the other hand, prosecution Lawyer Edre Olalia said that
Manalo’s testimonies are credible because he saw what took place and was there
when it happened.
He said that Manalo’s recollection on what happened was
clear and sharp.
Manalo is also the same witness against Palparan’s
co-accused Col. Felipe Anotado and M/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio.
At the same time, Olalia said that the security at the court
now seems to be like a circus because anti-riot police are only getting more
sweat while deployed under the heat of the sun even after the hearing was over
and Palparan was already whisked away by a phalanx of heavily armed escorts to
his detention in Fort
Bonifacio
“The policemen should be helping in tracking down the
criminals,” Olalia said.
No hearing will be conducted in the whole month of March and
it will resume on April 6 after the observance of Holy Week.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=738129
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