Not too long ago, my cousin and I together with some friends visited the town of San Miguel in Bulacan. This cousin of mine was planning to purchase a small farmland for him to spend his time doing farm works as one of his hobbies upon his retirement. One of the concerns we raised to the owner of the farmland that my cousin got interested in buying was the peace and order situation in the area particularly in regard to communist insurgency. We were told that NPA activities in the province were dramatically reduced during the time of Gen. Palparan owing to his no nonsense campaign to eliminate the menace of insurgency in his area of jurisdiction. The farmers and the landowners were not only satisfied but likewise expressed their appreciation to the general's iron-fisted approach to counteract the harassment being perpetrated by the communist rebels particularly the unabated collection of revolutionary tax, a euphemism for extortion. By and large, they believed that Gen. Palparan performed splendidly during his campaign in the province of Bulacan during his term.
Fast forward to the present. Gen. Palparan is indicted and is issued arrest warrant by the DOJ in connection with the abduction and disappearance of two UP student activists. He is now facing charges related to their disappearance. The Human Rights Commission headed by a well known leftist figure and other leftist groups are also up in arms to pin him down for the alleged atrocities he committed which included among others excessive used of brute force and other extrajudicial methods in his goal of eliminating the threat of communist insurgency in the province of Bulacan.
I can only sympathize with the families of the two missing students and other victims of Gen. Palparan's alleged atrocities. The extrajudicial method used by the general in his campaign of ridding out communist threat in the area no matter how noble his intentions were was, to say the least, unacceptable. "The means, do not justify the ends"
But do the majority of the people share the same view that of the leftist and human rights group? Does Gen. Palparan deserve to be given the monicker "The Butcher"? The ordinary farmers and small landowners in Bulacan are expressing a totally contradictory view from what is being perceived by those who are against the general. These people whom he has protected and served took cognizant to his accomplishments irrespective of what they were told of the general's brutal application of laws. I'm sure for them, the means justified the ends! We were told that they supported him in his fight against insurgency albeit not openly for fear of reprisal from the rebels and their leftist sympathizers. This, I believe, is the dilemma hounding the military in its campaign against communist insurgency. Laws are crafted to be strictly enforced to the letter. The rights of every individual has to be respected by all means. As for Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan, "damn if you do, damn if you don't
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