Militants want Palparan charged

By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
Last updated 06:21pm (Mla time) 01/31/2007

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- A militant fishermen's group is urging the Department of Justice (DoJ) to reopen old cases or file new charges against retired major general Jovito Palparan after the Melo Commission recommended that the former officer be held responsible for the killings of leftists.

Fernando Hicap, national chairman of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), said the DoJ could start rendering justice by reopening the cases of human rights advocates Eden Marcellana and Eduardo Gumanoy, murdered in Mindoro Oriental when Palparan was chief of the 204th Infantry Brigade from 2001 to 2003.

Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), said the Arroyo administration should make Palparan "pay for his crimes" by sending him to jail.

"But we maintain that it is the whole Armed Forces of the Philippines apparatus itself, with the blessings of [President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] and the Cabinet oversight committee for internal security, that is the mastermind behind the killings…and Palparan is just one of its most ardent implementers," Ramos said.

"[Arroyo] is using [Palparan] as a scapegoat to say that she has concretely done something to stop the killings, but this is just a showcase because the killings continue," he added.

In Baguio City, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said the Melo Commission should deliver its obligation to the families of victims of political killings by pursuing cases against Palparan.

"The commission must prove its competence and purpose. Palparan must not, and should not, be rewarded by any post in government as this [will only serve] as a cover for him to carry on with the killings, with the blessing of Arroyo. If Palparan deserves anything, it would be to endure punishment," the CPA said in a statement.
With a report from Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon