Palparan stages ‘final showdown’ in Ecija town

ANGELES CITY — In what he described as his "final showdown" as commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, who retires from the military service on Sept. 11, led former communist guerrillas and sympathizers in a peace rally in Lupao, a former rebel-infested town in Nueva Ecija, yesterday.

"This (rally) manifests the final showdown against the insurgents as Lupao used to be a territory of the enemies," Palparan told The STAR.

He said Lupao, Cuyapo, Guimba and San Jose City used to be New People’s Army (NPA) strongholds, which he had ridded of insurgents.

Replacing Palparan as 7th ID chief on Sept. 11 is Brig. Gen. Juanito Gomez, incumbent head of the National Capital Region Command.

The Armed Forces expects Gomez to employ a new strategy in the anti-insurgency campaign in Central Luzon, citing his success in transforming Bohol from a rebel-infested province to a tourism haven.

Earlier, Palparan said the 7th ID under his stead has curbed NPA influence in Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan by about 90 to 95 percent.

Meanwhile, Col. Ricardo Visaya, commander of the 69th Infantry Battalion, said his men are now withdrawing from the Pampanga cities of Angeles and San Fernando and Mabalacat town after winning the war against the communists in these areas which used to be the NPA’s "financial lifeblood."

"We are moving to western Pampanga," he said, adding though that some Army units will still remain in the three places.

Palparan said the success of the 7th ID’s anti-insurgency drive in Lubao, Cuyapo, Guimba and San Jose City has been significant since "many have already died" there.

It was in Lupao where 17 civilians, including six children and two senior citizens, were massacred by suspected military men on Feb. 10, 1987. In 1989, a military court acquitted the 24 soldiers who were tagged in the killing.

Militant groups have implicated Palparan and his men in the killings of known activists and other human rights violations in Central Luzon.

According to the human rights group Karapatan-Nueva Ecija, it has documented from January 2005 to January 2006 11 summary executions — three of them in Lupao — two forced disappearances, six kidnap-killings, and two slay attempts in Nueva Ecija.