Retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. RAFFY LERMA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Office of the Ombudsman has聽found probable cause to indict retired Major General Jovito Palparan for the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of the Manalo brothers.
But the antigraft body dismissed the criminal charges against聽former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. for lack of evidence.
In a resolution, the聽antigraft body said Palparan and eight others face indictment for two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention punishable under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code.
Palparan, known as the 鈥淏utcher,鈥� is accused of ordering the arrest of farmers Reynaldo Manalo and Raymond Manalo on Feb. 14 2006 in San Ildefonso, Bulacan for being suspected members of New People鈥檚 Army.
The Manalo brothers were detained and tortured until they escaped on Aug. 13, 2007.
Palparan鈥檚 eight co-accused were also found administratively liable for grave misconduct and were thus dismissed from service,聽removed of retirement benefits, and perpetually disqualified from public service 鈥斅� T/Msgt. Rizal Hilario,聽M/Sgt.聽Donald Caigas, and聽CAFGU Active Auxiliaries (CAAs)聽Michael Dela Cruz, Marcelo Dela Cruz, Jose Dela Cruz, Maximo Dela Cruz, Randy Mendoza, Roman Dela Cruz, and Rudy Mendoza.
The Ombudsman聽dismissed the administrative charges against聽former military chief聽Esperon,聽M/Gen. Juanito Gomez, and Palparan in view of their retirement before the case was filed. However, Palparan would still not be able to get clearance from the Ombudsman to get his benefits because of his pending case.
The 28-page Joint Resolution said that the Manalo brothers positively identified the perpetrators whose 鈥渃oncerted acts show that they agreed, expressly or impliedly, to commit the felony and forthwith decided to pursue it.鈥�
Palparan is detained after two years of hiding from the arbitrary detention, torture and rape case before the Bulacan regional trial court, this time for the alleged kidnapping of University of the Philippines students Karen Empe帽o and Sherlyn Cadapan, who remain missing.
The聽Ombudsman directed the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) to conduct fact-finding investigation on the other military personnel and victims cited in affidavit.
The criminal charges against Caigas and Gomez were dismissed after their death, while that against Esperon was dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.
The Manalo brothers are key to the case against Palparan over Empe帽o and Cadapan鈥檚 alleged enforced disappearance. Raymond Manalo has testified in court that he witnessed the torture and rape of the two UP students. He was allegedly detained by the military at the time Empe帽o and Cadapan were supposedly tortured and raped.