Army draws flak from netizens over ‘surrender’ photos of NPA rebels

Netizens on Friday criticized as manipulated the pictures that the Philippine Army released as regards the supposed recent surrender of members of the New People's Army.

According to a report on "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho", some said that the images could have been "photo shopped" or "doctored".

The image of the row of supposed rebel returnees appeared to have been super-imposed on the photograph of rifles arranged side by side on a table.

Research by GMA News indicated that there were similar photographs of supposed rebel returnees that the military released as early as 2017.

An official of the 2nd Infantry Battalion based in Masbate said that the data the military released on Friday was the consolidated number of surrenderers since April.

The pictures, on the other hand, had been recycled, the officer said.

He didn't comment on whether or not the photographs had been manipulated. —NB, GMA News