Thursday, February 22, 2007 Defense office now has a spokesman
DEFENSE Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. has appointed defense undersecretary for civil, veterans and reserve affairs Ernesto Carolina as the concurrent spokesman of the defense department, the first time it's been done in recent years.
"As DND (Department of National Defense) spokesman, Carolina is responsible for delivering official statements for the secretary and the department; (and) responding to local and foreign media queries," said a statement signed by DND public affairs chief Rosulo Manlangit.
Manlangit also said Carolina's tasks also include the establishment of linkages with the public information officers of the Armed Forces and other DND bureaus and employment of "communication procedures in conveying messages to the public."
He said Carolina's designation was made by Ebdane last February 15, two weeks after assuming the top defense portfolio. Carolina has been with the defense department as undersecretary for the past two years already.
On top of his position as undersecretary and spokesman, Carolina is also the DND's representative to the Presidential Human Rights Committee, which advises President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in addressing human rights concerns in the country.
Carolina is a classmate of the Ebdane, a former PNP chief, in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1970. Carolina's last two previous assignments in the military were as commander of the defunct Southern Command and Armed Forces deputy chief of staff.
This is the first time in recent years that a DND spokesman had been designated. Ebdane's predecessors personally answered questions relating to the DND and Armed Forces and coordination with the media are done through Manlangit's office.
The appointment of the DND spokesman came two weeks after Ebdane berated a reporter from the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) hours after he assumed the defense portfolio last February 1 over Ebdane's alleged contradictory stance on the role of the military in the May elections.
The DND and Commission on Elections (Comelec) had signed an agreement in October last year on limiting the role of the military in elections as an offshoot of accusations of the military's alleged involvement in fraud in the May 2004 elections.
Ebdane said that the military may still be involved in the transportation of election paraphernalia, which goes against the agreement.
Days later, Carolina faced the media to qualify Ebdane's statement. Carolina said what Ebdane wanted to convey was that the military can serve as escorts in the transportation of ballots in areas threatened by armed groups. (VR/Sunnex)
