President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has defended Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya from accusations by human rights group Karapatan that he was a “human rights violator.” Karapatan also linked him to retired Gen. Jovito “The Butcher” Palparan.
“I think it would be unfair not to consider Visaya just because he is a friend of Palparan. I do not like the guy Palparan, I mean…a terrible rightist. The crime of Palparan is not the crime of Visaya. And mere association of the guy…[makes] you deprive him [of] the honor [of] becoming the chief of staff,” Duterte said in an exclusive interview by a news anchor of TV5 network.
Duterte had chosen Visaya, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Matikas” Class 1983, as his first chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He calls Visaya a “vibrant general.”
The camp of Duterte had already confirmed the appointment of Chief Supt. Ronald Dela Rosa (PMA “Sinagtala” Class ’86) as director general of the Philippine National Police. Dela Rosa currently carries the rank of a brigadier general or one-star general in the military. The PNP chief just like the AFP chief holds a 4-star position.
Meantime, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is reportedly scheduled to meet Duterte on May 30 in Davao City.
A source from the inner circle of Duterte said there is a possibility the meeting would be made public since Gazmin is an outgoing Cabinet official meeting with an incoming president-elect.
“It’s not only us but, most of all, the public [who] would want to know what will be discussed by both sides,” the source said.
He said Visaya and Dela Rosa will be installed in their new positions after the oathtaking of Duterte on June 30 at the Malacañan Palace.
Despite the tirades against him, Visaya dismissed as “rehash” the accusations hurled against him by Karapatan and challenged leftist organization to prove their claim in a proper venue.
“Visaya was the ground commander during the 2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre where seven farm-workers were killed. He was also commander of the troops in Central Luzon and Metro Manila involved in rights violations during Arroyo’s reign of terror during the implementation of the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said in an earlier statement.
But Visaya responded with a challenge.
“They [Karapatan] have to prove their accusations. They should file charges and not just make media statements. They can never destroy me, they are merely badmouthing me,” he said.
During the Luisita encounter, Visaya was a lieutenant colonel s assigned a battalion commander to the area. The AFP higher command ordered him and his troops to provide peripheral security when the protesting farmers turned violent.
“I was never investigated, all (Karapatan) said were fabricated accusations,” he lamented.
Visaya said Karapatan and other leftist groups always brings up old charges every time he gets a promotion.
“Everyone knows that. From lieutenant colonel to colonel to brigadier general to major general and lieutenant general, all these promotions I deserved and got not a single person opposed, no complaint [filed] even in Congress. The accusers cannot show black and white proof. It is all purely propaganda what Karapatan says. Let them,” he said.