March 23, 2013 Reference: Vince Casilihan
Press Statement
Activists claim Palparan man sowing terror in
Bicolandia
Manila, Philippines- The human
rights watchdog Karapatan-Bicol on Saturday revealed that one of military
officers allied with former army general Jovito Palparan Jr. is taking charge
of the counter-insurgency campaign in the urban barangays of Legaspi City,
Albay province.
"The progressives and ordinary
people of the main capital of Albay and the entire Bicol Region are placed
under the spyglass of an extreme danger posed by Oplan Bayanihan courtesy of
Col. Ricardo Visaya, a military protege of The Butcher and certified Godfather
of Extra Judicial Killing who is no other than former Army Major Gen. Jovito
Palparan Jr.," said Karapatan-Bicol Vince Casilihan in a press statement.
"Col. Visaya who possesses the same
brutal quality and fascist mindset of Palparan is set to spread state terror in
the heart of Bicolandia as head of the peace and development council of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines in Bicol region," Casilihan
stressed.
The Karapatan-Bicol said Col. Visaya has placed at least 8
barangays in Legapsi City under the AFP watch where there are progressive organizations
and partylist groups are based. Casilihan lamented that the Commission on
Human Rights (CHR-Bicol) had given the go-signal for Army troops under the
command of Col. Visaya to use barangay halls, day care centers, chapels and
other public edifices for their counter-insurgency campaign in the urban areas
of Legaspi City.
The Karapatan-Bicol argued that Col.
Visaya who is Palparan's main partner in various extrajudicial killing and
enforced disappearances of leftwing activists between 2004-2010 under Oplan
Bantay Laya is now the chief executive officer of urban militarization which
targets Bicolano activists based in urban areas and ordinary members of
militant organizations and partylist groups.
"The Oplan Bayanihan regime
of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has commissioned the service of
Palparan-trained criminal Col. Visaya, a veteran of Oplan Bantay Laya during
the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. His bloody
records with Palparan include the mass murder of activists in Central Luzon
where over 100 activists were executed by state military forces. He was
Palparan's principal partner in crime in the political assassinations of
activists in Central Luzon," Casilihan said.
Karapatan-Bicol said Col. Visaya was
also implicated in other human rights violations during his stint as
commander of Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion in the National Capital
Region (NCR) from February 2007 to September 2007.
Karapatan also noted the the Commission
on Trade and Human Rights (CTUHR), labor-based human rights group had
implicated Col Visaya on cases of harassment and vilification campaign carried
out by 27th IBPA in Polomolok, South Cotabato.
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