Palparan VIP treatment in jail is an outrage–CPP

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced the Duterte regime for continuing special treatment of convicted fascist criminal Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr., and for refusing to transfer him to a regular cell at the maximum security facility of the the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

On May 6, the Regional Trial Court Branch 19 in Malolos, Bulacan denied a motion filed by human rights lawyers in February seeking the Palparan’s transfer to a regular cell and the termination of special privileges accorded him.

Since his conviction in 2018, he has been allowed to at the Directorate for Reception and Diagnostics (DRD) of the penitentiary and has been given unbridled access to computer and internet and many other privileges that other
inmates do not enjoy. Palparan has also been reportedly “acting as ‘governor’ or ‘mayor de mayores’ to about 1,500 persons deprived of liberty in the said facility.

“The Filipino people are outraged at the Duterte regime’s special treatment of the fascist butcher Palparan,” said Marco L. Valbuena, CPP Chief Information Officer. Palparan was convicted in 2018 for having ordered and being personally
involved in the unlawful arrest, torture and murder of UP student activist Karen Empeño and Sheryln Cadapan in 2006.

“Duterte’s special treatment of Palparan adds to the injustice suffered by his victims,” added Valbuena. “It furthermore promotes criminal impunity among the military and police and emboldens them to follow the butcher’s legacy of
brutality against unarmed activists.”

“It underscores the need to oppose the Anti-Terror Bill which will surely give state security forces free reign to carry out acts of suppression and commit abuses against the people,” said the CPP information officer.

“Duterte and the AFP continue to hold high and honor Palparan and the terror tactics which he applied during his stint as commander of various battalions and divisions of the AFP,” said Valbuena. “These same tactics remain as blueprint under the Duterte regime’s de facto martial rule and war of suppression.”

Valbuena pointed out that “Palparan’s ilk now occupy the top echelons of the military and are at the helm of Duterte’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict that are responsible for perpetrating grave abuses against civilians and civic groups under the guise of ‘counterinsurgency.’”

Palparan is facing other charges for the innumerable crimes of murder and torture in the course of leading counterinsurgency operations in Mindoro, Central Luzon, Samar and elswhere. He was among the first to promote the
fascist notion that civilians and activists are considered targets of armed suppression by state forces, contrary to what is stipulated by international humanitarian law.

Palparan VIP treatment in jail is an outrage--CPP