A Second Brush with
Palparan
Two of those who were
recently killed in Central Luzon
have had brushes before with Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the man the
victims’ relatives and friends claim as behind the killings.
BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
|
ANGELES CITY,
Pampanga - The eldest son of slain Bayan Muna (BM) member Francisco
Rivera, 34-year old Ricardo, was a picture of courage at his father’s
funeral.
“Ang pagkamatay ng
aking ama ay senyales ng pagsulong,”
(My father’s death is a sign of the advancing people’s struggle) he said
while staring at his father who lies in state at the Pangilinan Funeral
Parlor in Angeles City, Pampanga.
The older Rivera,
known to friends as Ka Kiko, died when unidentified men on board a white
van strafed him and his friends, Dr. Angel David and Von John Maniti,
while drinking coffee in a store in front of Rivera’s home in Barangay
(village) Pulong Bato, same city.
|
BULLET HOLE: Bayan Muna
member Francisco Rivera and his friends were shot dead in front of
this store in Angeles City, Pampanga. One of the bullets fired made a
gaping hole in the wall.
PHOTO
BY DABET CASTAÑEDA |
All three died on the
spot. Ka Kiko sustained nine gunshot wounds, most of which were at the
feet and legs.
He was one of the
five persons murdered in the Central Luzon region in a span of 21 hours,
Oct. 25-26.
The alleged
perpetrators, according to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic
Alliance or Bayan), were soldiers belonging to the 7th Infantry
Division of the Philippine Army (ID PA) under the command of Maj. Gen.
Jovito Palparan.
Since Palparan’s
assumption of the post in September, 19 political dissenters have been
killed in the region. The general has consistently denied the accusations
but has said in media interviews that, “We have the authority to terrorize
bad elements of society.”
Second brush
Teresita, 53, Ka
Kiko’s wife, said it was his husband’s “second brush” with Palparan. The
first was during the general’s stint as commander of the army’s 24th
Infantry Battalion which operated in Pampanga,
Bataan
and Zambales from 1985 to 1993.
Ka Kiko was then an
x-ray technician at the Angeles City General Hospital (ACGH). He was a
founding member of the Medical Assistance Group (MAG)-Pampanga chapter, an
organization of medical professionals who took part in community-based
medical services.
As early as 1985,
Teresita said Palparan had ordered the arrest of her husband and some 50
other residents of the village where they lived. They were detained for a
week and projected as New People’s Army (NPA) surrenderees.
Ka Kiko was not the
only activist recently killed in the region who has had a history with the
general. Bayan Muna-Tarlac provincial coordinator Florante Collantes has
had the same predicament, Bulatlat learned.
Collantes was a union
leader in Bataan in the mid-80s. A friend, who requested anonymity, said
Collantes was hunted by the military in the province because of his union
activities. Collantes went into hiding and later went to Manila where he
became an urban poor community organizer. His activities led to his arrest
in 1988. He went missing for a few days only to be found later by friends
hog-tied, badly beaten and half-dead.
On the same year,
Collantes found his way to Tarlac where he opted to stay. He became Bayan
Muna provincial coordinator in 2004.
A month and a half
after Palparan took the top post of the 7th ID, Collantes was
killed, allegedly by soldiers, on Oct. 15 inside his house.
Next generation
The Rivera family
“expected” the death of Ka Kiko. They said he had been regularly receiving
death threats since Palparan came back to town.
But the people whom
their father had been helping need not worry, Ricardo said, because they
would definitely continue their father’s legacy. “Kung inaakala ng mga
pumatay sa Papa ko na masisindak kami sa ginawa nila, nagkakamali sila.
Hindi kami manghihina, hindi kami mawawalan ng lakas na ipagpatuloy ang
laban para sa tao,” (If my father’s killers thought we would be cowed
by what they’ve done, they are mistaken. We will not weaken, we will
continue to fight for the people) he said.
Ricardo, who is also
a Bayan Muna volunteer, was 14 years old when he joined the militant
League of Filipino Students (LFS) in 1985. He said he has found a good
example in his father who continued to serve the people despite the
hardships and harassment from the military. Bulatlat
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Bloodied But Unbowed
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New Alliance to Hold Palparan Liable for Rights Abuses
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