Leaders of the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng KilusangMamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the peasant activist groupKilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) on Monday said on Monday that Maj.General Jovito Palparan had admitted that he was behind the spate ofpolitical killings of activists in Samar and Leyte provinces. 

" The search is over as to who is the mastermind behind the killings ofpolitical activists in Samar and Leyte provinces . Maj. General Jovito Palparan, Malacañang's favorite military general had already admitted tothe public as part of his own crowning glory as the new Butcher of EasternVisayas", KMP and Pamalakaya said in joint statement. 

KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos said the pronouncement of Palparan during a public meeting in Tacloban City that military would be abducting one peasant activist every month from so-called NPA infested areas is a "material basis" to file murder and other criminal charges against the general tagged as the " Butcher of Mindoro". 

" We will just organize the materials and evidence that would pin down Palparan as the orchestrator of the left and right political assassinations of peasant activists and progressive elements in Eastern Visayas. The filing of criminal charges will take place within the soonest time as possible", Ramos said. 

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the admission by Gen. Palparan of his leadership in the mass murder of peasant activists,progressives and critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the military establishment in the region also confirmed a policy statement known as 'take no prisoner policy" carried out by Malacañang and the military intended to assassinate, kill and intimidate critics of the Macapagal-Arroyo clique. 

Citing an interview conducted by Bantay Jasmin, a radio station based in Tacloban City, Hicap said the controversial military officer almost admitted categorically his " starring role" in the mass abduction, forced disappearances and summary executions of political activists in Samar and Leyte provinces. 

When further asked by the radio program host about the abduction of  peasant activists in Samar and Leyte, Palparan had this to say: " Pasensya na kayo sa paisa-isang kinukuha at ninunyutralisa natin sa mga baryo. Kailangan nating gawin iyon dahil kung hindi inaalis ang paisa-isang bulok na mansanas ay mabubulok lahat."  ( I'm sorry if we have to seize and neutralize these rotten apples one-by-one. If we don't, it is these bad apples that will spoil the whole brunch). 

Pamalakaya's Hicap also said Maj. General Palparan also confirmed his role in the series of abductions of political activists identified with militant party list groups and cause-oriented organizations in Catbalogan, Northern Samar. 

Maj. Gen. Palparan said " Yung masasamang tao na nawawala, mabuti naman na mawala sila. These are the bad eggs. Gumagawa sila ng kagaguhan. They are the ones killing people. If you don't do anything, patuloy silang gagawa ng masama. Ngayon kinuha ang mga ito, tinatanong-tanong, galit kayo. ( It is agood thing that those bad elements are missing. They are the bad eggs. They do bad things. They are the ones killing people. If you don't do anything,they will just go on doing bad things. Now that they've been seized you question why. You are angry). 

" Maj. Gen. Palparan has become the epitome of state terror courtesy of President Macapagal-Arroyo and the rabid anti-militant and anti-people military officers within the inner circle of the ruling syndicate in Malacañang", said Hicap in allusion to Palparan's statements. 

Likewise KMP's Ramos scored Palparan for the military officer's insulting and downgrading statement against farmers in Samar and Leyte provinces. The militant leader recalled that when Palparan was asked by Bantay Jasmin why the NPA is strong in Samar island, the controversial general lashed back and said ' dahil tamad ang mga tao rito at ayaw magtrabaho para pahusayin ang kabuhayan nila'  (It is because the people here are lazy and don't want to work to improve their lives). 

" Kapal ng mukha. Hindi niya ba alam na ang kanin na kinakain niya at ng pamilya niya ay mula sa dugo at pawis ng mga magsasaka?  Hindi niya ba alamna ang sweldo niya ay mula sa walang katapusang buwis na ibinabayad ng mgamagsasaka? Hindi lamang siya arrogante, psychotic pa" ( Thick faced. Does heknow that the rice he and his family is eating come from blood and sweat ofthe farmers? Does he know that his salary come from the endless taxes paidby the farmers? He is not only arrogant, he is psychotic too"), Ramos lamented. 

Palparan said he was more inspired everytime media referred him as theButcher of Mindoro although he neither deny or admit that he was a butcher in real life. The controversial military officer also admitted that theAlsa Masa, a paramilitary group accused of killing mass activists in Mindoro Island between 2001 to 2004 was created when he was the commanding officer of the 204th IBPA in the island province as he recognized the death squad's help in the counter-insurgency campaign of the government against the NPA.  # 
 

KMP - 16 May 2005