Military chief: Soldiers involved in extrajudicial killings By Joel Guinto INQUIRER.net Last updated 03:00pm (Mla time) 01/30/2007 MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has admitted that soldiers had been involved in the killings of left-wing activists but that these had been investigated. At the same time, Esperon said retired Major General Jovito Palparan could not be prosecuted because he was no longer under military authority, although he vowed to prosecute soldiers implicated in the killings before military and civilian courts. Esperon issued the statement a day after a panel that investigated the extrajudicial killings against militants recommended that Palparan and other commanders be held accountable for the deaths in their areas of responsibility. "We acknowledge that some members of the AFP have been involved in the deaths of some members of militant organizations but we definitely do not condone these," the military chief told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo. "In fact, more than condemning these acts, we have taken action to investigate them in order to prosecute who are responsible," he said. "We will spare no one regardless of rank or position," he said. Retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, head of the commission that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formed in August 2006 to look into the political violence following a local and international outcry, said the investigation of the four-member panel showed that “majority of the victims were leftist-activist-militants” and that the suspected assailants belonged to the military. Melo said holding military commanders responsible for extrajudicial killings was one of the recommendations in the 89-page final report that was submitted to Arroyo last week. But Esperon maintained that such killings were not sanctioned by the military leadership. Esperon also admitted that the military never investigated Palparan over the killings when he was still in the active service because no complaints were lodged before military courts. The military chief said six soldiers were facing charges before civilian and military courts over their involvement in the killings of leftists. One of them, Corporal Alberto Rafon, was discharged from the service in October 2002 for the murder of peasant leader Nicanor delos Santos. Esperon identified the five other soldiers who were investigated over the killings as: Master Sergeant Donald Caigas, rebel returnee Aniano Flores, Master Sergeant Antonio Torilla, Corporal Esteban Vivar, militiaman Ronnie Canet, and Sergeant Rowie Barua, who recently turned state witness in the murder case of crusading journalist Marlene Esperat. However, Esperon disputed Melo’s assertion that Palparan and other commanders were liable for the extrajudicial killings under the principle of “command responsibility,” saying the concept could not apply in this case since "criminal acts only involve the individual." Military prosecutors could not run after Palparan since no charges were filed against him before his retirement on September 11, 2006, Esperon explained. "He [Palparan] was not formally investigated," the military chief said. Activists have dubbed Palparan the "butcher" for the murders and abductions of leftists that were reported wherever he was assigned. In 2003, Palparan was accused of masterminding the killings of human rights workers Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy in Naujan town, Oriental Mindoro province, where he commanded the 204th Army Brigade. The resulting controversy prompted Palparan's assignment to head the Philippine contingent to Iraq. When he returned to the country in mid-2004, Palparan was named commander of 8th Infantry Division based in the Eastern Visayas region and later to the 7th Infantry Division operating in Central Luzon. In his last assignment, Palparan was initiating military inspections of residents for their community tax certificate (CTC) or "cedula" to weed out alleged communist supporters in the communities. Soldiers were accused of mauling civilians and forcing them to eat expired CTCs. Palparan admitted the "cedula" checks but denied allegations of abuse. Originally posted at 1:52pm Copyright 2007 INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.