Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez (File photo by FRANCES MANGOSING / INQUIRER.net)
ZAMBOANGA CITY— Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. apologized to his fellow recipients of the Ateneo Peace Award for what they experienced during the Marcos martial law era.
Galvez, who was bestowed the award by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University here for his “courageous commitment to achieve a just and lasting peace and security for the people of Mindanao,” was feted along with two other awardees known for their staunch opposition to martial law.
The other awardees were Redemptorist Bro. Carlito “Karl” Gaspar of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and the late Antonio Ma. Nieva, cofounder of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. Nieva was represented by his daughter, Aleta Nieva Nishimori.
“[My] two coawardees are victims of martial law and it’s really my dream to extend our apologies to them because the martial law that we are having now is different from the martial law [under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos],” Galvez said.
“The President (Duterte) is so knowledgeable and our military is very professional in implementing this new martial law,” he added. —JULIE ALIPALA