FILE PHOTO: BuCor chief Director General Gerald Bantag (left) and then-NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar inspect tools used for the demolition of shanties and illegal structures in the National Bilibid Prison Maximum Compound in Muntinlupa City. /NCRPO PIO
Kidnapping and serious illegal detention convict Jovito Palparan was interviewed by SMNI, a media company owned by President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 spiritual adviser, because the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) allowed it.
In a message on Friday, Assistant Secretary Gabriel Chaclag, BuCor spokesperson, said the bureau had granted SMNI鈥檚 request to have Palparan, a retired Army major general found guilty in 2018 for the disappearance of two student activists and sentenced to a life term, as its resource person.
Chaclag said the interview request was made 鈥渆ven long before鈥� but was granted only recently when COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed and Metro Manila was put under alert level 1. He said Palparan consented to the request, and it 鈥渨ent through the proper process.鈥�
BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag sought to justify the grant of the interview, saying that although the felon was a 鈥淧DL,鈥� or person deprived of liberty, 鈥淕eneral Palparan has the right to express himself because there is no gag order for him 鈥� coming from the court.鈥�
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, until Thursday unaware of the interview, said Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco had required Bantag to submit a written report on the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday. Marco is the official assigned to oversee BuCor operations.
READ: DOJ unaware Palparan gave Bilibid interview
Minimum security
Palparan is staying in the minimum-security area of New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, according to the National Union of People鈥檚 Lawyers (NUPL).
Members of the NUPL served as private prosecutors in the kidnapping case filed against Palparan and his co-accused by the families of University of the Philippines students Karen Empe帽o and Sherlyn Cadapan, who remain missing to this day.
The NUPL brought this matter to Bantag鈥檚 attention in a letter it sent on Friday, or two days after Palparan鈥檚 interview was aired by SMNI. A copy of the letter was sent to the Inquirer.
It said Palparan, like any other convict, should have been restricted to the maximum-security compound as stipulated in BuCor鈥檚 operating manual.
READ: NUPL tells BuCor: Cancel Palparan privileges after SMNI online interview
Special privileges
Only convicts 鈥済iven light sentences or are about to be released and/or already considered 鈥榣iving out prisoners鈥欌�� are supposed to be held in the minimum-security compound, the NUPL said.
It added: 鈥淭he foregoing clearly shows that 鈥� Palparan is enjoying special privileges and preferential treatment even as he is already serving sentence for the crimes of which he was convicted.鈥�
But Chaclag said the manual was 鈥減ermissive,鈥� and that Bantag had absolute authority over BuCor operations under Republic Act No. 10575, or the BuCor Act of 2013. He said the request for the interview was 鈥渁boveboard and properly studied by our legal department鈥� before it was granted.
Chaclag also said BuCor 鈥渃onsidered the importance of the issue [of the interview], which is the communist insurgency in the country.鈥�
鈥淲e can see that the reformation program of BuCor 鈥� is effective, because our PDLs accept the court鈥檚 decision on their cases. They also don鈥檛 rebel against the government, and follow the proper process to attain justice,鈥� Chaclag said.
In a report by SMNI, Bantag said Palparan was a good resource person because he was 鈥渁n expert in his field of expertise 鈥� coming from his long military experience fighting the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People鈥檚 Army) insurgency.鈥�
Pending cases
Under Section 5(d) of Part 4, Chapter 3 of the BuCor operating manual, the bureau may deny an interview request 鈥渋f the inmate is accused or is otherwise involved in a pending criminal case.鈥�
The consent of the concerned court is required to conduct an interview with someone with a pending criminal case.
Palparan is appealing his conviction at the Court of Appeals. He also has pending cases of two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with serious physical injuries for his alleged involvement in the abduction of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo from their home in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, on Feb. 14, 2006.
READ: Palparan appeals conviction
Deemed 鈥榬estricted鈥�
NUPL president Edre Olalia said Bantag could not feign ignorance because Palparan鈥檚 trial was being held inside the NBP. Raymond Manalo was a key witness in the Cadapan-Empe帽o case. He said he and his brother were able to meet and talk with the two UP students in detention at Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan.
READ: FULL TEXT: The conviction of Palparan
The brothers were able to escape from their detention in Pangasinan in 2007, after 18 months in the hands of military men. Olalia said SMNI鈥檚 request for an interview 鈥渟hould have been denied outright.鈥� Besides, the civil and political rights of convicts are deemed 鈥渞estricted鈥� while they are serving their sentence, he said, adding that this was the same reason cited by the DOJ in opposing detained Sen. Leila de Lima鈥檚 petition to participate in Senate sessions by videoconference.
He pointed out that De Lima had not even been found guilty of the drug charges filed against her.
鈥楢pril Fool鈥檚 Day joke鈥�
In a statement, De Lima called the interview of Palparan, conducted by Lorraine Badoy, spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) and an SMNI anchor, 鈥渁 bad April Fool鈥檚 Day joke that came days too early.鈥�
During the interview, Palparan accused De Lima of having a hand in his conviction in 2018.
De Lima, who was justice secretary when the charges against Palparan were filed in court, said these were 鈥渁ll aboveboard and based on a solid case backed by clear evidence.鈥�
According to the senator, Badoy is 鈥渄esperate to fabricate what she sees as a fairy tale story鈥� linking De Lima, presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo, and the Liberal Party to the CPP-NPA.
READ: Badoy-Palparan interview 鈥榓 bad April Fool鈥檚 Day joke,鈥� says De Lima
Previous NPA support
De Lima said Badoy should have asked Palparan about President Duterte鈥檚 previous support to the local NPA command when he was mayor of Davao City.
鈥淏adoy and the NTF-Elcac are moving mountains just to Red-tag or call communist sympathizers the human rights defenders, student activists, and progressive organizations in the country, Meanwhile, Mr. Duterte just announced going to China just to kiss the feet of Xi Jinping, the leader of the Communist Party of China,鈥� De Lima said.
鈥淲ho is the real enemy of the Filipinos here: human rights defenders who protect our laborers and indigenous people, or China who wants to claim our territory?鈥�