January 29, 2021 THE head of civil-military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has gone on leave to pave the way for an investigation into the publication of an erroneous list of University of the Philippines (UP) students and alumni who were killed or captured during operations against the New People’s Army (NPA).
Major General Benedict Arevalo, deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations (J7), said he was taking responsibility for the actions of his staff.
“I would like to reiterate that indeed the erroneous list was a mistake committed by J7 staff, and as the chief of Office for Civil Military Operations, J7, I personally take responsibility for their actions. This is the reason why I issued a public apology and reiterated it in my succeeding interviews,” he said.
SunStar
+ January 25, 2021 UNIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) alumnus and former Philhealth president and chief executive officer Alexander Padilla on Monday, January 25, 2021, accepted the apology of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) over its erroneous list of UP students who have joined the New People’s Army (NPA).
But Padilla, whose name was erroneously included in the list, said he and other UP alumni on the list were still considering charges against the military personnel responsible for the list and its posting online. Pag-aaralan pa namin ng mga kasamahan ko dahil nga gusto namin maging leksiyon sana ito, he said in a radio interview.
SunStar
+ January 21, 2021 SOLDIERS aboard military trucks entered the University of the Philippines Diliman campus on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, not as a show of force following the abrogation of the 1989 UP-Department of National Defense (DND) accord but to visit their ongoing projects.
“Nandito po tayo ngayon dahil gusto po nating ipakita na mali yung mga sinasabi at sa mga speculation na bawal talaga ‘yung military dito sa Barangay UP Campus,” said Major Frank Sayson, 7th Civil Relations Group of the Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (7CRG, CRSAFP) commander.
“Ang sabi nga namin, itong ginagawa natin sa nation building, nagre-reach out ang AFP sa iba’t ibang sector especially sa pamunuan ng UP,” he added.
SunStar
File January 20, 2021 DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana assured on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, that there is no plan to deploy state forces inside University of the Philippines (UP) campuses.
Neither does the military wish to suppress academic freedom and freedom of expression.
He said he made this clear when he informed UP President Danilo Concepcion in a letter about the abrogation of the agreement between the Department of National Defense (DND) and UP effective January 15.
The agreement, signed in June 1989, prevents the police and military from entering UP campuses without any coordination with the UP administration.
Lorenzana reiterated this in a press conference Wednesday to debunk “malicious insinuations” that they will militarize UP.