of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

General Esperon was asked for his reaction to General Palparan’s public image
and statements appearing in media reports, among which were as follows:
Potential vigilante style actions by anti-communist elements outside the
military organization cannot be stopped completely and the killing of activists
are necessary incident to conflict.
I cannot order my soldiers to kill, it’s their judgment call, they can do it on
their own.
I encourage people victimized by communist rebels to get even.
The killings are being attributed to me but I did not kill them, I just inspire
the trigger men.
Their (three student doing research work outside Manila) disappearance is
good for us but as to who abducted them we don’t know.
Gen. Esperon refused to answer any question in relation to Gen. Palparan’s
statements, reasoning that Gen. Palparan himself should be the one to answer
the same.
Chairman Melo asked Gen. Esperon if it occurred to him to call Gen. Palparan
to explain his statements. Gen. Esperon related that he called Gen. Palparan
regarding the three (3) students who disappeared. Gen. Palparan denied any
involvement and expressed his willingness to submit to any investigation by
the Task Force Usig. Gen. Esperon added that he recalled calling Gen. Palparan
about a statement (he forgot which) and the latter said he was misquoted by
the newspaper. Gen. Esperon advised him to be careful with his statements.
Gen. Esperon said that assuming the above-statements were true, those “are
not right words that should come from an officer.” He added that the statements,
if true, do not reflect well on the AFP, but it does not mean that the military
should be blamed for the killings.
It appears that the AFP did not investigate Gen. Palparan on the matter on the
ground that no formal complaint was lodged.
17. Command Responsibility
When asked about his concept of command responsibility, General Esperon
stated that it means that a commander is responsible for what his men do or
fail to do in terms of accomplishing the mission. It does not include criminal
liability of the superior if his men or subordinates commit an illegal act that is
criminal in nature. Only the subordinate should be liable for the criminal act
and not the superior commander. The commander is responsible only for acts
he authorized.
In relation to reported abuses allegedly committed by Gen. Palparan, Gen.
Esperon said that these are only accusations and that no complaints were filed.
Moreover, he reiterated that the matter is left to be investigated by Task Force
Usig and the Commission.
18. Actions that may be undertaken by the AFP to prevent extrajudicial killings
When asked what the AFP is doing to prevent extrajudicial killings, General
Esperon simply mentioned that the AFP has its rules on engagement and that
the AFP conducts courses which have a module on human rights and there are
several publications to reinforce AFP’s observance of human rights. Atty.
Vinluan suggested that in order to stop extrajudicial killings, the military
should correct the impression that left wing organizations, such as Bayan Muna,
Gabriela, and Anak Pawis, are fronts of the CPP-NPA. Gen. Esperon countered
that Satur Ocampo should denounce the NPA. By doing so, the AFP will know
that previous members of the CPP-NPA have truly severed their relations
with the underground.
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article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1