Which JDBC driver are you using? Is there only one that's built into the Android distribution?
The problem is most likely with java.sql.Connection#setAutoCommit(). If the connection already has auto-commit enabled—which you can check with Connection#getAutoCommit()—then your JDBC driver is already issuing the SQL commands to start a transaction before your manual attempt to do, which renders your manual command redundant and invalid.
If you're looking to control transaction extent, you need to disable auto-commit mode for the Connection by calling
connection.setAutoCommit(false);
and then later, after your individual DML statements have all been issued, either commit or roll back the active transaction via Connection#commit() or Connection#rollback().
I have noticed that some JDBC drivers have a hard time coordinating auto-commit mode with PreparedStatement's batch-related methods. In particular, the Xerial JDBC driver and the Zentus driver on which it's based both fight against a user controlling the auto-commit mode with batch statement execution.