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.
The list, which has been taken down, included Alexander Padilla, former Philhealth president and chief executive officer; Rafael Angelo Aquino, a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group; Marie Liza Dacanay, president of the Institute for Entrepreneurship in Asia; and playwright Liza Magtoto.
They slammed the AFP for releasing such an erroneous list which put their lives in danger particularly amid the administration’s intensified campaign against insurgency.
The AFP J7 earlier apologized while Major General Alex Luna, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, was relieved from post. His office was the source of the list.
Luna was assigned to the office of AFP Chief of Staff Gilbert Gapay.
Gapay has ordered the conduct of an investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the posting of the list.
The military had released the list to support Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's move to unilaterally abrogate a 1989 agreement with UP, which prohibited state forces from entering UP campuses without prior notice to the administration. (SunStar Philippines)