Palparan calls Melo Commission report “wrong” and Alston’s “shallow”

By Ronron
February 23, 2007

Retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr. said Friday that the reports of the Melo Commission and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Prof. Philip Alston are “wrong” and “shallow,” respectively.

In a phone interview with Camp Aguinaldo reporters, Palparan said he never ordered the killings of civilians, as reported by the Melo Commission, but merely threatened them.

“I was just scaring the people who are suffering because of the NPA (New People’s Army), who are being used by the NPA against us… My statement was, I was talking to a group of supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – NPA, who are giving money, food, shelter and those spying against us. I told them that my order to my soldiers is that if they are certain that there are armed rebels in the house or yards, shoot them… It will just be too bad if victims are killed in the process… And I suspected that my words would reach the NPA in nearby hinterlands. So this is psychological warfare,” Palparan explained.

He expressed dismay that the Melo Commission took his statements to the media and those of his critics as though they were facts, and were even used as basis for their conclusions.

“The Melo Commission and some people in government perhaps are thinking that the militant’s outcry or their complaints are part of public opinion. It’s not public opinion. These are just a few people (accusing us),” the retired Army officer said.

Palparan said the Melo Commission did not even investigate the allegations on their own. “They have not done their job actually,” he said, thus, “their output is a re-echo of the enemy’s propaganda.”

“The Melo Commission Report is totally false because their report has no basis… Most of my statements were misinterpreted, taken out of context or intentionally reinvented,” he added.

Palparan said he could only hope that as the Melo Commission extends its probe for a few months, its members will come up with definite findings “so that people who are responsible must be held responsible and those who are not involved and implicated will be cleared.”

As for Alston, Palparan was slightly forgiving, saying that the envoy was constrained by time, having only 10 days to spend in the country.

“You can not blame him because he received shallow reports of the militants, and then asked around other sources like the military,” Palparan said of Alston.

But, he suspected that Alston already has pre-conceived conclusions after receiving the militants’ reports, even before he got the military’s version of the story.

“In 10 days, you cannot have an in-depth or very sound conclusion or analysis. But, immediately, after 10 days, he already has a conclusion so his report also has no basis,” Palparan said.

But, despite the negative findings against the military, Palparan said he is still willing to face any investigation on extrajudicial killings.

When Palparan bowed down from the active service in September last year, he brought along the reputation of being the number one violator of human rights in the country, having allegedly ordered the killing of several members of militant organizations in the areas where he had been assigned, like in Mindoro, in Eastern Visayas, and in Central Luzon./DMS