The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the Filipino people and their various democratic organizations in condemning the acquittal today of the fascist butcher Gen. Jovito Palparan by the Malolos Regional Trial Court, for the abduction and illegal detention of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo.

The acquittal cannot come at a worse time as military and police forces under the Marcos regime have stepped up its campaign of extrajudicial killings, abductions and torture against unionists, social activists, community organizers, environmentalists and other cause-oriented groups and individuals.

Palparan’s acquittal will further embolden the fascist criminals in the AFP and abet the prevailing culture of impunity which characterize the perpetration of their crimes and violations of human rights.

The terror tactics employed by General Palparan during his stint as commander of various units of the AFP, specifically the tactic of abduction, secret detention and torture, are the same terror tactics now being employed by the AFP. These same martial law tactics employed by the dictator Marcos and his trusted General Ver, are now being revived by Marcos Jr.

We recall how the Manalo brothers were abducted in San Ildefonso, Bulacan in 2006. They were secretly detained and subjected to unspeakable forms of torture in a cell inside the camp of the 7th ID in Nueva Ecija, under the direct command of Palparan. Palparan, himself, visited those torture chambers and ordered soldiers. We also recall how one of them personally saw missing activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in those dungeons.

General Palparan was among the favorite generals of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose regime is responsible for more than 1,100 cases of extrajudicial killings and more than 200 cases of enforced disappearances.