Victor Reyes’ report in Malaya:
Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. yesterday assailed the credibility of separate investigations conducted by a United Nations special rapporteur and the Melo Commission that blamed the military for the rash of extrajudicial killings.
Esperon sought to turn the tables on UN special rapporteur Philip Alston who said Wednesday the military “remains in a state of almost total denial” over the killings which have been “convincingly attributed to them.”
“I believe that Mr. Alston might be in a state of denial himself. He probably refuses to believe that the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army could perpetrate such killings,” said Esperon.