[AFP's silence hit] Kadamay fears military connections keeping Palparan at large

PRESS RELEASE l 22 DECEMBER 2011
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP
Militant Center of Urban Poor in the Philippines
Reference: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary general (0921.392.7457)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines--Militant urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) denounces the silence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as its ex-general Jovito Palparan, Jr has now turned into a fugitive. This after a Bulacan court has ordered his arrest with four other military officials on Tuesday.

The retired general has attempted to leave the country but immigration officers blocked him at an airport in Pampanga province.

Kadamay also fears the Palaparan's connections with AFP's high-ranking officials would prevent the government from hunting down the 'butcher.'

Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary-general, says: "Palparan is a shame for the Armed Forced of the Philippines".

"As it celebrated its 76th anniversary yesterday, the AFP as an old institution must be shameful to have cuddled a 'butcher' like Palparan who is now turned into a fugitive from law," Arellano says.

AFP's integrity tarnished
"Palparans' flee attempt and continued hiding only suggest his guilt, and so is the AFP's silence on the issue," Arellano adds.

"Palparan has tarnished the integrity of the AFP, as the protector of civilian citizens, and the protector of law," says Kadamay.

With his military connections, that group believes it is not also impossible that some elements of the AFP are even keeping the ex-general from the custody of the court.

"To retrieve its honor, it must be a prerogative for the AFP to search for Palparan and turn him over to the court to hear the criminal cases hailed against him," Arellano says.

Before the court has ordered his arrest, the ex-general has long been dubbed as a dead man walking, and reported to have topped the list of considered criminals by the Communist Party of the Philippines' People's Court.

Urban militarization and EJK persist
Kadamay also believes there are still plenty of military officers among the AFP ranks who idolize Palparan, and condone the extra-judiciary killings to address the insurgency problem in the Philippines.

Arellano says, the urban poor have not forgotten the havoc he brought to hundreds of urban poor communities that were militarized during his 'reign of terror' under the Arroyo administration.

Since 2003, in preparation for the 2004 national election, military presence was documented in urban poor communities that face threats of demolition, and those considered as bailiwicks of militant organizations. Urban militarization, according to the group, persists until today albeit discretely through Aquino's Oplan Bayanihan.

Kadamay has also noted the extra-judiciary killing of two of its leaders in the Eastern Visayas and Cagayan Valley regions, among the hundreds of other activists that were killed and abducted in regions where the Palparan was deployed. ###