EDITORIAL - Justice for the 'disappeared'

Five years since two student activists went missing in Central Luzon, Jovito Palparan is facing criminal charges for kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the case. Palparan, a retired Army major general and former party-list representative, has consistently denied involvement in the disappearance of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño when he was commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Central Luzon. In one of his numerous statements insisting that he knew nothing about the case, Palparan said the two might have committed suicide.

Such insensitive statements do not spell guilt, and it’s a long way from an indictment to the establishment of guilt beyond reasonable doubt – the requirement for conviction and punishment. The prosecution’s case is based on a farmer’s statement that he was detained together with the two students in a military facility in Limay, Bataan in 2007. The students remain missing. Because suspicion has focused on Palparan since Cadapan and Empeño disappeared, those seeking justice will see his indictment as a positive step.

For their part, the Philippine Army and the rest of the military must review counterinsurgency tactics. Palparan, called “The Butcher” by militant activists, is a decorated soldier who was at the forefront of counterinsurgency efforts. Hundreds of militant activists have disappeared or been killed since the restoration of democracy in 1986, and many of the cases have been blamed on the Armed Forces of the Philippines. But the AFP has denied resorting to kidnapping, torture and summary executions. It has insisted that killings attributed to the military occurred in the course of legitimate counterinsurgency operations.

Such military tactics were employed during martial law, and it’s surely no coincidence that it was the same period when the communist insurgency was at its strongest. Any successful counter-insurgency program requires winning hearts and minds. This cannot be achieved by swelling the ranks of the tortured, the executed, and the disappeared. Perhaps the prosecution of Palparan can help change the mindset among certain members of the AFP.