DAVAO CITY—Newly appointed Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo M. Año assured the public the military would never be a threat to the ongoing peace negotiation between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front.
This followed a statement by a progressive group Año could “cast dark light on the ongoing peace talks” because of his record on human rights violations.
The Exodus for Justice and Peace based here issued a statement regarding its concerns on the appointment of Año.
“The Exodus for Justice and Peace believes the appointment of General Año casts a dark light on the ongoing peace talks between the government and the national Democratic Front especially with the complaints of human rights violations filed against the general…” it said in a press statement.
Año was allegedly involved in the abduction and disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos in 2006 when he was still the Intelligence Service of the military.
Año, on the other hand, said the allegations of EJP were not true and were recycled issues.
“The allegations were already dismissed by the DoJ [Department of Justice] in 2012. Those are recycled issues that are not true,” he said.
He said he would rather do his job silently to give his best service to the Filipino people and leave the issues behind.
“I just want to focus on doing my job silently so I can give my best service to the AFP and to our people,” he added.
Año was the former commander of the Davao based 10th Infantry Division before he became the Commanding General of the Philippine Army after the military’s successful operation against New People’s Army leader Leoncio “Parago” Pitao.
