Witness Raymond Manalo remained consistent in implicating retired Army general Jovito Palparan in the alleged abduction and torture of two missing University of the Philippines students.
In a court hearing at the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 14 on Monday, Manalo testified that he met UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in Camp Tecson, Bulacan, where they were all held.
According to rights group Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay, Manalo remained consistent despite the defense's attempts to discredit his testimony through various court technicalities.
“Not being able to break the consistencies of Manalo's accounts, Palparan’s lawyer invented inconsistencies in Manalo's affidavits by picking one statement or sentence out of context and comparing another statement from a different affidavit,” she said.
“Such court antics of Palparan and his lawyer indicate their failure to destroy the credibility of Manalo and other witnesses in the Capadan-Empeno case. Once again, Palparan’s accountability on the disappearance and torture of the two students is firmly established,” she continued.
Karapatan regularly works with the National Union of People's Lawyers which has provided private prosecutors for the Capadan-Empeno case against Palparan.
Manalo is a farmer from San Ildefonso, Bulacan who earlier stated he was abducted along with his older brother Reynaldo by the Army 24th Infantry Battalion on February 14, 2006.
He said they were held captive for one and half years because his brother, Bestre, was believed to be a member of the New People's Army.
Manalo said during his detention under Palparan's orders, he met Cadapan, Empeño, and another abducted farmer Manuel Merino at Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan.
Palparan was arrested in 2014 after three years in hiding. He was given the monicker "The Butcher” for alleged human rights violations wherever he was assigned. Palpalan has repeatedly denied that he or the military was involved in the incident.
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