Watch list order, not hold departure order, issued vs Palparan

(Updated 3:31 p.m.) Retired Army General Jovito Palparan has been the subject of a watch list order, and not a hold departure order as mentioned by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. On July 13, the Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III issued Watch List Order No. 211-354 against Palparan and his six other co-respondents in the criminal suit being investigated by a Department of Justice (DOJ) panel. De Lima, however, said during a budget briefing at the House of Representatives that Palparan has already been barred from leaving the country in connection with the cases he is facing. “I think a hold departure order has already been issued against him," she said in response to a question from Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño on the DOJ’s actions against extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances. In the order, Paras ordered the Bureau of Immigration to include Palparan and his co-respondents on the watch list. Palparan's co-respondents include:

Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac, commanding officer of the 56th Infantry Battalion;

Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, commanding officer of the 24th Infantry Battalion;

2Lt. Francis Mirabelle Samson of the 7th Infantry Division;

an alias "Arnel Enriquez,"

M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario of the 24th Infantry Battalion (retired);

Sgt. Donald Caigas of the 24th Infantry Battalion (deceased). Persons placed on watch lists must first seek DOJ clearance before they can leave the country, whereas a hold departure order is tougher because it automatically bars exit through international airports and seaports. Palparan is facing criminal cases before the DOJ for the various human rights violations allegedly committed by his subordinates in the military to missing students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, both from University of the Philippines. The two student activists were abducted in June 2006 on suspicion they were communist rebels. Among the offenses allegedly committed by Palparan and his men were rape, serious physical injuries, arbitrary detention, maltreatment of prisoners, grave threats, and grave coercion. — with Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News