TACLOBAN CITY – The appointment if Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan as commanding general of the 8 th Infantry Division is being opposed by some human rights groups who warned his coming would signal the “commencement of the region’s howling wilderness.”

Lito Gacusana, secretary-general of the Samahan Han gudti na mga Parag-uma Han Sinirangan Bisayas (Sagupa-SB), said the incoming commanding general of the 8 th ID had been accuse of violating human rights.

“He was always after farmers and peasant groups whom he irresponsibly tags as terrorists and NPA members or supporters,’ he said.

But this allegation of Gacusana was dismissed by Major Neneveigh Alcovindas, chief of the Civil Relation Unit based here in the city.

“It is unjust and unfair…If they have documents to prove it, present them before the courts. It should be made proper forum,” Alcovindas told Express.

Palparan was once the commanding officer of the 204 th Infantry Brigade based in Mindoro. He was named as the successor of out-going Major General Glenn Rabonza who reached the mandatory retirement age.

But Palparan, the former commanding officer of the 2 nd Infantry Division based in Rizal, is not expected to take the post yet because President Macapagal-Arroyo still has to sign his appointment.

Alcovindas said that any human rights violations charged against Palparan is now moot because his promotion as a full general was approved by the Commission on Appointments.

Gacusana claimed that Palparan was also accused of human rights violation when he was assigned in the Southern Tagalog region.

“We cannot allow that to happen. Our farmers have continuously been victimized by militarization brought about by the government’s iron fist,” he said.

According to Gacusana, the incoming commander of the 8 th ID has pending human rights violation cases before the Commission on Human rights, filed by different peasants and farmers groups.