Source of military's ‘NPA’ list must apologize for errors –Parlade

The source of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s list of University of the Philippines alumni who were supposedly recruited by communist rebels must apologize for the errors made, the spokesman of the government’s anti-communist task force said Sunday.

“They have to apologize kung merong pagkakamali doon. The source has to apologize,” National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesman Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr. said in Vonne Aquino’s “24 Oras Weekend” report.

“Maaaring may mga CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) diyan na talaga namang CPP at hindi nag-NPA (New People’s Army). Remember, legal ‘yung CPP. So wala naman silang dapat na ipangamba du'n. Ang tinutumbok natin ay ‘yung mga CPP na nag-NPA or CPP, at the same time, NPA.”

The Facebook page of the AFP Information Exchange earlier published then deleted a list of UP graduates who it claimed became members of the NPA.

Some of the people on the list, many of whom are well-regarded professionals, denied any link to the NPA.

“Talagang nakakatawa, kung hindi man nakakalungkot, itong naging listahan ng AFP and I’m even more apprehensive doon sa mga taong naka-listahan ko. They don’t deserve this. None of us deserve this,” former Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla said.

"I never became an NPA. I was never captured and I’m alive and kicking… Ako po ay in consultation ngayon with my lawyer and the legal counsel of the organizations that I belong to to consider appropriate responses including the possibility of legal action," said Marie Lisa Dacanay, president of the Institute of Social Entrepreneurship in Asia, during the Right to Know Right Now Coalition forum.

"Issue a public apology. The post is patently false on all counts. I never became an NPA, never have I been captured, and I’m very much alive," economic and business journalist Roel Landingin said in the same forum.

"Wala po ako sa radar ng NPA at wala rin po sila sa radar ko. Nonetheless the damage has been done. Shouldn’t they retract that meme, correct the misinformation? Sana lang po," playwright Liza Magtoto said also in the same forum.

Atty. Rafael Aquino of the Free Legal Assistance Group said in the forum: "I remain unaffiliated with the NPA, and by the grace of God, I remain alive and kicking. With the others in the list, I think I am owed an apology by the AFP in whose website the list first appeared."

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the AFP would apologize to Aquino, who was among those erroneously tagged as an NPA member.

The AFP Information Exchange later published another list of UP students who were allegedly recruited by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front of the Philippines and killed in armed encounters.

“I don’t know kung ano ang reference nila kasi iba doon sa listahan na hawak namin ni Secretary Lorenzana. Itong naka-post ngayon, although mas konti, ayan, mas accurate ‘yan,” Parlade claimed.

However, the latest list was again deleted.

“Inconsistencies regarding the list of some of UP students who became NPA was brought to our attention,” the Facebook page said. “In view of this, we inform our followers and the public that thorough validation is being undertaken by our team to rectify the information.”

The AFP's Civil-Military Operations Office (J7) then apologized on Sunday night for "inconsistencies" in the list of students who allegedly joined the NPA.

From 18, the total number of universities and colleges the AFP said allegedly serve as venues for NPA recruitment has gone up to 38. —Julia Mari Ornedo/DVM/KG, GMA News