EDITORIAL

Support for Palparan

Allow us to digress a little from the current Sendong line to talk about an issue that caught our eye.

Manila Dailies the other week bannered the support fugitive retired general Jovita Palparan got from former generals of the AFP and Police. Although we agree that Palparan should not be presented as a “butcher” or “berdugo” because he has not been convicted of any crime yet, we strongly disagree to the tone and language used by the retired generals.

The case against Palparan has been in the news even before he retired from the AFP. He has hidden himself under the “skirt” of GMA who protected him like a hen protecting her chicks and has avoided any prosecution.

Even some of these retired generals have protected him by skirting any investigation that could have been conducted when he was still in the service. Surely they could not claim that the abduction of the two UP students were in line with the military’s operations against the insurgents.

The fact that Palparan is still at large and has not surrendered to authorities automatically makes him guilty of the charges. He cannot say that he will not get a fair trial because, as the supporters of CJ Corona claims, the Judiciary is fair and independent.

The retired generals should not issue threats like saying that the conviction of Palparan could bring demoralization in the ranks of the military because it is tantamount to saying that he should be acquitted or else we may have a Coup d’ėtat in our hands. This is a very irresponsible statement.

The best that these generals could do is to look for Palparan, ask him to surrender, claim the reward money offered for his arrest and donate the same to the victims of Sendong. This way they will be helping their brother general get the justice he seeks and at the same time help the typhoon victims in the country.

But never threaten the country with destabilization if Palparan does not get his way. It would be better for these generals to just heed the call of one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen, for them to just fade away.