Palparan ‘secures’ Masinloc port
The retired army general reportedly led heavily-armed men in takeover
MASINLOC, Zambales: Armed men led by Ret. Army Gen. Jovito Palparan forcibly took over a seaport in Barangay Baluganon early morning Tuesday.
The security guards said that around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday while drinking their usual morning coffee they were surprised to see a group of uniformed men accost them shouting, “Dapa!”
Refusing to identify themselves for fear of possible recrimination, security guards in the compound recognized Gen. Palparan as the one who led some 50 personnel from the 24th Infantry Battalaion based in Nueva Ecija, along with members of the CIDG and several plain-clothes persons with side arms.
“Fully armed sila at tinutukan kami ng baril, so wala na kaming magawa, Siya (Palparan) mismo ang kumakausap sa amin, sinabihan pa nga ako na ano ang ginagawa mo dito sa Zambales, umalis ka na dito [They were all fully armed and even pointed their guns on us, so we couldn’t do anything. It was Gen. Palparan himself who addressed us, he even asked me what I was doing in Zambales, and told me I should leave this place],” recalled one guard.
The employees added that the armed men took their issued firearms, cellular phones and wallets containing cash.
Another security guard told The Manila Times that he had P36,000 in his wallet for the salary of his fellow security guards but the armed men took it away together with his wallet and cellphone.
“Tinatadyankan pa nga nila yung ibang kasamahan ko habang kinakausap, bawal din silang tignan at pinagkukuhanan nila kami ng litrato [They treated us roughly, even kicking our other companions while talking to them, and we were not supposed to look at them although someone was taking photographs of us],” he added.
A Manila Times source said Palparan and his group were allegedly hired by a certain State Invest to secure a part of the port which is currently occupied by Coco Mining Inc.
Apparently, said the source, a company currently enjoying preferential treatment from the Philippine Port Authority has availed of the services of the retired army general to take over a foreclosed portion of the port from the CocoMining management. Also, the said company has partnered with a certain Chinese investor, and is expected to take over the management of the said portion of Masinloc.
He likewise mentioned a certain Padpao Security Agency as having provided personnel to man the gates, as even media has been banned from entering the site.
Benguet Corp. meanwhile told The Manila Times that they still have authority over the port in Masinloc.
In a text message, Senior Vice President for Legal Issues of Benguet Corp., Lawyer Reynaldo Mendoza said the company still has authority over the port on a holdover capacity since the PPA has not informed them that their management has been terminated.
He added that Benguet Corp. is still paying rental to PPA and that the process of asset liquidation of the port is not yet finished. “It isn’t true that the port has ceased to operate since we continue to ship out the chromate we produce,” he said, adding that there is a ship currently being loaded at the port.
Zambales Provincial Police office led by Senior Superintendent Rolando Felix arrived at the port 11:00 am Wednesday, forcing their way inside and afterwards holding a dialogue with Palparan and his men.
Negotiation between Felix and Palparan were set in the afternoon. By Anthony Bayarong, Manila Times Correspondent
= = =
Palparan under fire for takeover of mine, port
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. has seized a seaport involved in a land dispute, using soldiers and police ostensibly without authorization from their commanders, Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso reported Wednesday.
“We were fooled by Palparan,” said one soldier who joined in the takeover of the facility in Masinloc, Zambales. A policeman also used the word “nagoyo (fooled)” in explaining his participation in the incident on Tuesday.
Deloso, who went to the site on Tuesday to avert tension, said that a breakdown in the police and military chain of command allowed Palparan to take over the port owned by the Consolidated Mining Inc.
The State Investment Trust Inc., which employs the 24 Hours Security Corp. where Palparan works as a consultant, is claiming a portion of the 20-hectare port, Deloso said.
“The soldiers used force,” said Deloso. “There were 30 Army soldiers in all. They had no nameplates.”
Deloso said that the soldiers were from the 24th Infantry Battalion (IB), some of them coming from Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. There was also a team from the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and 40 security guards, he said.
“They were all taking orders from Palparan,” Deloso said.
Not first time
The Masinloc incident was not the first time that Palparan had mounted a takeover of a mine firm’s property after his retirement.
Officials of the Ore Asia Mining and Development Corp. on Tuesday filed charges of robbery, grave coercion and serious illegal detention against Palparan and 16 others after they allegedly took over the firm’s mine site in Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan province on April 12.
Palparan denied the charges. “We only secured the area. I only help my friend, lawyer Roy Villasol, who has a claim on the site,” he said.
Doña Remedios Trinidad Mayor Evelyn Paulino assailed Palparan. “No armed groups should roam that area. The local government concerned would be responsible for that incident,” she said.
Palparan denial
Palparan dismissed Deloso’s statements.
“Negative,” Palparan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer when asked if he commanded the troops there. He said he was “merely a consultant” of the security agency and declined to answer further questions.
Palparan was the 7th Infantry Division chief until his compulsory retirement at age 56 in September 2006.
Human rights activists have called Palparan a “berdugo (butcher),” accusing him of engaging in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and human rights violations increased in his campaign against communist insurgents.
Having just retired and with his widely circulated reputation, Palparan’s mere presence might have prompted the troops to just sail along, one police source told the Inquirer.
Unwittingly used
“They realized they were unwittingly used by Palparan when he instructed them to secure the entire area,” said the source.
Trying to “save the face of the military and the police,” Deloso said he went out of his way to meet Palparan at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
“Our agreement was that the soldiers and the policemen would all pull out, only the security guards would remain. By nightfall, what he did was bring in soldiers in plainclothes,” Deloso said.
Senior Supt. Rolando Felix, Zambales police chief, said Palparan and his men left the port at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Philip Lapinid, chief of the 24th IB, declined to say who ordered him to field his men to the port. He said that Col. John Ferrer, inspector general of the 7th Infantry Division (ID), began an inquiry into the case on Tuesday night.
“I’m here to determine if active military personnel were involved,” Ferrer said, adding that only a squad of 12 soldiers from two companies came.
Takeover unauthorized
Field military commanders in the area take orders from Brig. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, 7th ID chief; the police from Chief Supt. Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director.
Deloso said the takeover was “unauthorized.”
Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the regional CIDG, said Allen Roxas, president of the State Investments Trust Inc., asked for “investigative assistance on the presence of armed men roaming in their property,” in a letter to the CIDG on April 23.
Eleazar said he sent a team to the area in response to Roxas’ request.
Troops not involved
“Our CIDG personnel reported that they did not know that a takeover would happen. They also did not know that General Palparan would be in the area. They did not take orders from him. They decided to stay in the vicinity of the port instead,” Eleazar said.
“[Palparan] has a security agency with some retired soldiers. It was the CIDG that asked [the 24th IB] for assistance, not Palparan. But our troops were not involved in the takeover. They stayed in the vicinity. It was the CIDG and security guards that entered the wharf,” said Villanueva.
He said he allowed the 24th IB to help because there were “many armed groups” in Zambales.
Villanueva said his troops could not take orders from Palparan because “he is already a civilian.”
“We will not allow that. We require that our soldiers adhere to the chain of command. Definitely, he was not commanding our troops. We did not know Palparan was there,” Villanueva said.
Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, chief of the military’s Northern Luzon Command, has ordered an investigation.
“I will not tolerate this,” he said. “Heads should roll.” By Tonette Orejas - Central Luzon Desk . . With reports from Cesar Villa and Carmela Reyes, Inquirer Central Luzon
MASINLOC, Zambales: Armed men led by Ret. Army Gen. Jovito Palparan forcibly took over a seaport in Barangay Baluganon early morning Tuesday.
The security guards said that around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday while drinking their usual morning coffee they were surprised to see a group of uniformed men accost them shouting, “Dapa!”
Refusing to identify themselves for fear of possible recrimination, security guards in the compound recognized Gen. Palparan as the one who led some 50 personnel from the 24th Infantry Battalaion based in Nueva Ecija, along with members of the CIDG and several plain-clothes persons with side arms.
“Fully armed sila at tinutukan kami ng baril, so wala na kaming magawa, Siya (Palparan) mismo ang kumakausap sa amin, sinabihan pa nga ako na ano ang ginagawa mo dito sa Zambales, umalis ka na dito [They were all fully armed and even pointed their guns on us, so we couldn’t do anything. It was Gen. Palparan himself who addressed us, he even asked me what I was doing in Zambales, and told me I should leave this place],” recalled one guard.
The employees added that the armed men took their issued firearms, cellular phones and wallets containing cash.
Another security guard told The Manila Times that he had P36,000 in his wallet for the salary of his fellow security guards but the armed men took it away together with his wallet and cellphone.
“Tinatadyankan pa nga nila yung ibang kasamahan ko habang kinakausap, bawal din silang tignan at pinagkukuhanan nila kami ng litrato [They treated us roughly, even kicking our other companions while talking to them, and we were not supposed to look at them although someone was taking photographs of us],” he added.
A Manila Times source said Palparan and his group were allegedly hired by a certain State Invest to secure a part of the port which is currently occupied by Coco Mining Inc.
Apparently, said the source, a company currently enjoying preferential treatment from the Philippine Port Authority has availed of the services of the retired army general to take over a foreclosed portion of the port from the CocoMining management. Also, the said company has partnered with a certain Chinese investor, and is expected to take over the management of the said portion of Masinloc.
He likewise mentioned a certain Padpao Security Agency as having provided personnel to man the gates, as even media has been banned from entering the site.
Benguet Corp. meanwhile told The Manila Times that they still have authority over the port in Masinloc.
In a text message, Senior Vice President for Legal Issues of Benguet Corp., Lawyer Reynaldo Mendoza said the company still has authority over the port on a holdover capacity since the PPA has not informed them that their management has been terminated.
He added that Benguet Corp. is still paying rental to PPA and that the process of asset liquidation of the port is not yet finished. “It isn’t true that the port has ceased to operate since we continue to ship out the chromate we produce,” he said, adding that there is a ship currently being loaded at the port.
Zambales Provincial Police office led by Senior Superintendent Rolando Felix arrived at the port 11:00 am Wednesday, forcing their way inside and afterwards holding a dialogue with Palparan and his men.
Negotiation between Felix and Palparan were set in the afternoon. By Anthony Bayarong, Manila Times Correspondent
= = =
Palparan under fire for takeover of mine, port
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. has seized a seaport involved in a land dispute, using soldiers and police ostensibly without authorization from their commanders, Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso reported Wednesday.
“We were fooled by Palparan,” said one soldier who joined in the takeover of the facility in Masinloc, Zambales. A policeman also used the word “nagoyo (fooled)” in explaining his participation in the incident on Tuesday.
Deloso, who went to the site on Tuesday to avert tension, said that a breakdown in the police and military chain of command allowed Palparan to take over the port owned by the Consolidated Mining Inc.
The State Investment Trust Inc., which employs the 24 Hours Security Corp. where Palparan works as a consultant, is claiming a portion of the 20-hectare port, Deloso said.
“The soldiers used force,” said Deloso. “There were 30 Army soldiers in all. They had no nameplates.”
Deloso said that the soldiers were from the 24th Infantry Battalion (IB), some of them coming from Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. There was also a team from the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and 40 security guards, he said.
“They were all taking orders from Palparan,” Deloso said.
Not first time
The Masinloc incident was not the first time that Palparan had mounted a takeover of a mine firm’s property after his retirement.
Officials of the Ore Asia Mining and Development Corp. on Tuesday filed charges of robbery, grave coercion and serious illegal detention against Palparan and 16 others after they allegedly took over the firm’s mine site in Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan province on April 12.
Palparan denied the charges. “We only secured the area. I only help my friend, lawyer Roy Villasol, who has a claim on the site,” he said.
Doña Remedios Trinidad Mayor Evelyn Paulino assailed Palparan. “No armed groups should roam that area. The local government concerned would be responsible for that incident,” she said.
Palparan denial
Palparan dismissed Deloso’s statements.
“Negative,” Palparan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer when asked if he commanded the troops there. He said he was “merely a consultant” of the security agency and declined to answer further questions.
Palparan was the 7th Infantry Division chief until his compulsory retirement at age 56 in September 2006.
Human rights activists have called Palparan a “berdugo (butcher),” accusing him of engaging in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and human rights violations increased in his campaign against communist insurgents.
Having just retired and with his widely circulated reputation, Palparan’s mere presence might have prompted the troops to just sail along, one police source told the Inquirer.
Unwittingly used
“They realized they were unwittingly used by Palparan when he instructed them to secure the entire area,” said the source.
Trying to “save the face of the military and the police,” Deloso said he went out of his way to meet Palparan at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
“Our agreement was that the soldiers and the policemen would all pull out, only the security guards would remain. By nightfall, what he did was bring in soldiers in plainclothes,” Deloso said.
Senior Supt. Rolando Felix, Zambales police chief, said Palparan and his men left the port at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Philip Lapinid, chief of the 24th IB, declined to say who ordered him to field his men to the port. He said that Col. John Ferrer, inspector general of the 7th Infantry Division (ID), began an inquiry into the case on Tuesday night.
“I’m here to determine if active military personnel were involved,” Ferrer said, adding that only a squad of 12 soldiers from two companies came.
Takeover unauthorized
Field military commanders in the area take orders from Brig. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, 7th ID chief; the police from Chief Supt. Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director.
Deloso said the takeover was “unauthorized.”
Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the regional CIDG, said Allen Roxas, president of the State Investments Trust Inc., asked for “investigative assistance on the presence of armed men roaming in their property,” in a letter to the CIDG on April 23.
Eleazar said he sent a team to the area in response to Roxas’ request.
Troops not involved
“Our CIDG personnel reported that they did not know that a takeover would happen. They also did not know that General Palparan would be in the area. They did not take orders from him. They decided to stay in the vicinity of the port instead,” Eleazar said.
“[Palparan] has a security agency with some retired soldiers. It was the CIDG that asked [the 24th IB] for assistance, not Palparan. But our troops were not involved in the takeover. They stayed in the vicinity. It was the CIDG and security guards that entered the wharf,” said Villanueva.
He said he allowed the 24th IB to help because there were “many armed groups” in Zambales.
Villanueva said his troops could not take orders from Palparan because “he is already a civilian.”
“We will not allow that. We require that our soldiers adhere to the chain of command. Definitely, he was not commanding our troops. We did not know Palparan was there,” Villanueva said.
Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, chief of the military’s Northern Luzon Command, has ordered an investigation.
“I will not tolerate this,” he said. “Heads should roll.” By Tonette Orejas - Central Luzon Desk . . With reports from Cesar Villa and Carmela Reyes, Inquirer Central Luzon
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