MALOLOS CITY: Militant groups are set to hold a protest rally here tomorrow to denounce retired Army general Jovito Palparan.
The groups Karapatan, Desaparecidos, Hustisya and Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) are planning to hold a rally in front of the courthouse for the scheduled arraignment of Palparan.
Security has been tightened with the city police force being beefed up by police troops from the Central Luzon Regional Police office as ordered by regional police director Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta during an inspection on Friday.
Cristina Guevarra, spokesperson of Hustisya, said other militant organizations from Metro Manila and Central Luzon are expected to join them tomorrow. Guevarra said they would demand from the court to have Palparan committed to the Bulacan Provincial Jail.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, however, urged the transfer of Palparan to a military facility, considering he served the country as a soldier. He stressed Palparan should be presumed innocent until proven guilty of the charges raised against him.
Trillanes visited Palparan yesterday at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) main office in Manila.
The former Navy officer said Palparan should be placed in a military facility considering he was an active member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the allegations against him came to play.
“We have to show that we do not neglect the soldiers who served our nation. Remember that he is innocent until proven guilty,” Trillanes said in Filipino.
Guevarra, on the other hand, said other militant groups will also conduct a rally in front of the NBI main office in Manila to pressure them to bring Palparan to the Bulacan court for his arraignment.
Guevarra said the failure to bring Palparan to the court and commitment to the provincial jail would mean special treatment is being given to the former Army general.
The Philippine star
