Jovito Palparan Jr: Brave soldier or a violent crusader?

Human rights groups dub him "the Butcher" for his alleged human rights abuses during his stint in the military. For them, the 2006 disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan is just one of his "crimes" for which he should be held accountable.

According to Karapatan, retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. "left a trail of dead in his violent crusade to extinguish the New People's Army rebels."

By Karapatan's count, there were 71 victims of extra-judicial killings, 14 victims of frustrated killings, and five incidents of massacre when Palparan was head of the 7th Infantry Division in Mindoro.

But who exactly is Palparan?

Palparan, who has been found guilty for the kidnapping of Empeño and Cadapan, began his military career as a lieutenant in Basilan and Sulu until he was given command of the Wildcats or the 24th Infantry Battalion.

As commander of the Wildcats, he was almost dismissed from service when he led the team into a misencounter with the Marines while rescuing a member of their unit.

Palparan then led the Wildcats into an encounter against the Moro National Liberation Front while tracking down the group of Uzman Sali, the unit that perpetrated the Patikul massacre in 1977.

From 2001 to 2006, Palparan became notorious — at least to human rights groups — when he was tapped by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to lead her anti-insurgency campaign. During this period, he was assigned to Mindoro, Romblon, Eastern Visayas, and Central Luzon.

Human rights abuses, indiscriminate killings, and other extrajudicial crimes were attributed to Palparan's campaign as the 8th Infantry Division in Eastern Visayas.

The Arroyo-appointed Melo Commission said there was no direct evidence linking the hundreds of killings, but conceded that there was evidence that Palparan tolerated and even encouraged the killings.

Similarly, the International Peasant Solidarity Mission and the Commission of Human Rights found evidence of military involvement in several cases of human rights violations in areas Palparan was in charge of.

Palparan was, however, cleared of charges and lived free until December 20, 2011, when a warrant for his arrest was issued following the disappearance of Cadapan and Empeño.

After almost three years in hiding, he was arrested in Manila on August 12, 2014.

Despite his arrest and the junking of his petition for bail in 2015, Palparan ran for Senate in the 2016 election but lost.

Prior to this, Palparan created the political party Bantay to advocate anti-communist beliefs. —KBK, GMA News