Palparan’s successor to reorient troops

While he is ready to face the enemies, Brig. Gen. Juanito Gomez, the incoming commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion, said yesterday he would like to see an anti-insurgency campaign without bloodshed.

In fact, Gomez, who will replace the controversial Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan whom militants have branded as a berdugo (executioner), said his first task would be the "internalization" of the 7th ID troops.

"Unang-una umpisahan ko talaga sa (I would really start with the) internalization of my people (for them) to know themselves and for them to know the importance of discipline, dedication and commitment to the service," he told reporters.

Gomez, who will replace Palparan as 7th ID chief when the latter retires on Sept. 11, said part of his move to reorient his soldiers is for them to know their capabilities in fighting and defeating the real enemies.

"First and foremost, dapat ilagay sa kaisipan nila na may mahalagang papel sila na ginagampanan (they should realize that they play an important role). That for us to win this fight is to identify the real enemies. We have to win the support of the masses," he said.

Gomez was credited for transforming Bohol from an NPA-infested area into a tourism haven with his men helping promote the tourism industry of the Central Visayan island-province.

When sought for comment, Palparan welcomed Gomez as his successor. However, he reminded him that "there are still problems in the clearing operations" even if the 7th ID under his (Palparan’s) watch has cleared Pampanga, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija of the rebels’ presence and influence.

Palparan said NPA rebels are still present in parts of Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan and Aurora. "When pushed to the wall, they will use all their resources and even become suicidal. They remain a challenge," he added.

For his part, Romulo Polintan, chairman of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Central Luzon, likened Gomez’s impending takeover of the 7th ID as "dousing the fire in the region with cold water."

"We support the idea of promoting tourism if only to give livelihood to the people. It would even be better for Gomez to mold the arms of soldiers into plows that can be more productive for the farmers," Polintan said.

Asked about Palparan’s cedula campaign, Gomez said it has been a standard operating procedure among government troops manning checkpoints and conducting combat patrols to ask villagers to show their community tax certificates, mainly for identification purposes.

"You could just say hello to unidentified men who are acting suspiciously, especially when there are reports that the area is known to be rebel-infested," he said.

But Gomez said soldiers should be extra polite and vigilant at the same time in such a situation.

"In any situation, dapat maging magalang ang mga sundalo natin (our soldiers should be courteous)," he said.

He said he also found ridiculous reports that soldiers had asked some civilians to eat their expired cedulas.

He said most of these reports could have just been blown out of proportion or could be mere propaganda of the communist rebels, he said.

Gomez said he is ready to face and defeat the enemies of the state, adding though that in any battle, everybody is a loser.

While soldiers are prepared to fight, he said it would be best that differences are settled through dialogues.

"Very open kami dyan. Pinapalawak namin yung peace process kasi (We are very open about that because he have been expanding the peace process)," he said.

On accusations that soldiers and policemen were the ones behind summary executions of known militants in Central Luzon, Gomez said this could just be a propaganda ploy.

He said he believes that no soldier or policeman in his right mind would commit such illegal acts.