The head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines civil-military operations group, whose office is responsible for posting a list of alleged New People’s Army members which drew flak on social media, decided to take a leave of absence following an inquiry into the matter.
“In the light of these developments, I will go on a leave of absence so as not to influence the ongoing investigation,” AFP Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations, Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo said in a message to reporters late Thursday.
Arevalo’s move followed the relief of Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Intelligence Maj. Gen. Alex Luna for purposes of investigation, according to the Board of Generals.
Arevalo reiterated the erroneous list was a mistake committed by an unidentified staff member of his office, adding he would take responsibility for the matter.
“I personally take responsibility for their actions. This is the reason why I issued a public apology and reiterated it in my succeeding interviews. The procedure my staff did to post in FB (Facebook) was confined in my office,” Arevalo said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, meanwhile, said Arevalo’s decision to go on a leave of absence was totally unnecessary.
“That is a laudable act of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo but totally unnecessary as I don’t think the case warrants a formal inquiry. It is an open and shut case: a list was given by an office to another office which proved to be garbage and coming from the intelligence division? As I said it was an unpardonable gaffe,” he said when sought by reporters for a reaction on the matter.
Lorenzana also said the morale of the AFP was not affected by the relief of Luna from his post over the incident.
“I think the morale of the AFP is not adversely affected by the relief of MGen Luna. Everyone knows the principle of command responsibility: a commander is responsible for whatever his unit does or fails to do. My action means that everyone knows this by heart and abides by it. I will not allow subordinates to be scapegoats,” he added.
Earlier, the military apologized for those who were inadvertently affected by inconsistencies regarding the list of students who joined the NPA (died or captured) posted in the AFP Information Exchange Facebook account.
The article has since been immediately taken down or deleted from the military’s social media accounts.
“The Office of the J-7 (Civil-Military Operations) AFP is already conducting an internal investigation as to how the list got published. Personnel who are responsible will be held to account,” it added.
On Thursday, Lorenzana ordered the immediate relief of Luna following the gaffe.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has required the Office of the Solicitor General to comment on a motion filed by petitioners led by retired SC Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales expressing concern over what they considered as intimidation by a military official of those who asked the high court to declare as unconstitutional Republic Act 11479 or the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020”.
In a resolution, the SC gave the OSG 10 days within which to file its comment on the petitioners’ manifestation and motion pleading the 15-member bench to order the OSG to explain whether a Facebook post by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade was an “official communication from the government or a public officer.”
In a Facebook post, Parlade, a member of the government’s anti-communist insurgency task force, warned against “individuals, groups, and organizations opposing a law that will protect our citizens from terrorists.”
The post came days before the scheduled oral arguments next month on the anti-terror law, which has been opposed by a wide array of groups in 37 separate petitions.
The SC slated the oral arguments on February 2.
Parlade did not mention the Carpio group but named lawmakers from the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc and lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, whom he has repeatedly accused of being communist members or fronts.
“The Day of Judgment is upon you and the Filipino people, who have suffered enough from the malignant hands of the CPP NPA NDF of which you are part of, sit in Judgement. Very soon, blood debts will be settled. The long arm of the law will catch up on you, and your supporters,” Parlade said towards the end of his post.
The petitioners said they consider the post a “clear threat” to them because they belong to those opposing the anti-terrorism law.
In a related development, the SC appointed retired justice Francis Jardeleza as an amicus curiae or “Friend of the Court”, which refers to an “experienced and impartial” lawyer who may be invited by the SC to help in the resolution of pending issues, according to the Rules of Court.
Former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza had also requested to be made an amicus curiae but the Court merely noted his motion without action.