Amparo out vs Palparan for abducted brothers

Citing command responsibility, the Court of Appeals (CA) issued Thursday a writ of amparo against retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. and several other respondents for two brothers who claimed the military abducted them in February 2006. Radio dzBB reported the CA, in a 30-page decision, granted the petition for amparo of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, who claimed they managed to escape only this August. The CA ordered defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. and Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to report to it the whereabouts of M/Sgt. Hilario Castillo and Donald Caigas, who were tagged as among the brothers' abductors. It also noted that while there was no evidence of Palparan's direct participation in the abduction, he was expected to have known of it because of command responsibility. Data from Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) showed five men believed to be military agents abducted the Manalo brothers on Feb. 14, 2006 in Bohol na Mangga village in San Ildefonso, Bulacan. The incident took place reportedly after the two victims alleged refusal to cooperate with the alleged perpetrators to locate a neighbor named Bestre. Between 2 to 3 p.m. the alleged perpetrators armed with rifles and wearing civilian clothes forcibly broke into the house of the victim’s parents, Jesus and Ester Manalo. "Raymond, who was sleeping inside the room, was awakened by the noise. He was asked if he was Bestre. When the perpetrators were not satisfied by his answer, he was slapped and hit with a rifle butt to his abdomen. They then ordered Raymond to lie down with his hands tied behind his back. He was dragged and repeatedly kicked on his way out of their house," AHRC said. Raymond was taken to the house of his elder brother Reynaldo. Reynaldo’s wife Maria Leonora had just arrived from gathering charcoal at the time. Reynaldo was ordered to kneel down. "When he refused, the alleged perpetrators poked their guns at him and started kicking him. One of the perpetrators entered Reynaldo's house and illegally conducted searches allegedly for hidden firearms. When they failed to find any, they left taking Reynaldo and Raymond with them. They later went to Bestre's house, which is not far from that of the victims. They forcibly opened the door and ransacked items inside," AHRC said. - GMANews.TV