EDITORIAL - Methods of a bygone era

If the Armed Forces of the Philippines wants to be a true armed forces of the people, it should cooperate fully with investigators in giving justice to the relatives of two missing students of the University of the Philippines. Relatives of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño have presented a strong case to bolster their accusation that the two students were apprehended five years ago, illegally detained and then tortured by members of the Philippine Army in Central Luzon.

The relatives have presented witnesses who said members of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion based in Hagonoy, Bulacan apprehended the two students. A fellow detainee has testified that he saw the students being subjected to the water cure and electric shocks. Cadapan also reportedly told the witness that she was raped.

Confronted with reports of extrajudicial killings and disappearances in recent years, the AFP has maintained that the dead or missing were casualties of legitimate counterinsurgency operations. If rape, electric shock and the water cure are legitimate instruments of counterinsurgency, the AFP will never win this war.

The best way to stop such dirty war tactics is by punishing the perpetrators. This is difficult in an organization where there are members who still believe in the benefits of resorting to extrajudicial methods. The AFP can start by going after its members, whether retired or in the active service, who have been identified and formally accused of human rights violations.

In the case of the two UP students, relatives have tagged the commanders of the two infantry battalions at the time of the disappearance, Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac and Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, together with 2Lt. Francis Mirabelle Samson, Arnel Enriquez and M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario. Also indicted was their military commander at the time, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, whose trail in the AFP is littered with complaints of human rights violations. Palparan has brushed aside his tag as a butcher, becoming a party-list congressman upon his retirement from the AFP.

Though retired from military service, Palparan continues to be perceived as a face of the AFP, together with the ranking officers who have been implicated in large-scale corruption. If the AFP wants to restore public trust in the organization, it must show that the methods long associated with Palparan now belong to a bygone era. The AFP can start by giving justice to Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.