Intel chief Monteagudo blasts Makabayan bloc, denies he’s source of ‘fake news’

MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the country’s top intelligence agency on Sunday blasted the Makabayan bloc after its lawmakers accused him of being a source of fake news for sharing “misleading” posts on his personal Facebook account.

In a statement, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director-General Alex Paul Monteagudo said that he “categorically denied” the accusations hurled against him by Makabayan bloc members, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate and Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Jane Elago.

Monteagudo added that like every Facebook account holder, he shares content on his personal page because he finds it “inspiring or entertaining or informative.”

“Thus, I shared posts in my [Facebook account] because I see them as artistic expressions of our people similar to the sentiments of former rebels, Indigenous Peoples (IPs), victims and parents who have gained the courage to stand up and reveal the truth about members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who are now in Congress, the Makabayan bloc led by Congressman Zarate, masquerading as defenders of ‘human rights’, when they are actually part of a terrorist organization that has killed thousands of Filipinos, destroyed many families and robbed the Filipino people of the peaceful and prosperous lives we all dream of,” Monteguado added.

Monteguado’s statement comes after he was grilled by Makabayan bloc members during the House deliberations’ on NICA’s proposed budget for 2021.

During the hearing, the NICA chief admitted that he shared posts that particularly targeted progressive groups.

He also confirmed that he has shared “quite a number of times” from Facebook pages titled “Global Public,” “Peace Philippines,” “Pinoy Exposé,” and “Philippine Untold News.”

Facebook previously shut down more than 100 fake account linked to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police which targeted activists and dissenters of the current administration.

But Elago questioned why Monteagudo was sharing such content on his personal Facebook page, knowing he was the chief of the top intelligence agency.

“What these pages are sharing are not a joke as they endanger the lives of people contained in these posts. Shouldn’t the NICA chief be more responsible since he is the director general of the premier intelligence agency of the government?” Elago said.

Monteagudo, meanwhile, added in his statement that one of the reasons why he was sharing the posts is to protect families and children “from exploitation and abuse” of the communist terrorist group, even tagging the Makabayan bloc as the group’s “network in Congress.”

He added that the Makabayan bloc representatives are members of the CPP-New People’s Army, “which has been declared as a terrorist group by the Philippine government and included in the list of terrorist organizations by five other countries including the United States and the European Union.”

“All members of the CPP pledge allegiance to the CPP flag and Constitution, the preamble of which seeks the violent overthrow of the government and the establishment of a communist form of government by undermining our democratic institution,” the NICA chief said.

“It is no wonder that the Makabayan bloc are (sic) undermining the NTF-ELCAC by blocking the budget of the Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO), the National Security Council (NSC) and the NICA,” he added.

It could be remembered that the House deferred the deliberations on the PCOO’s proposed budget after its Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy refused to apologize and remove her posts where she red-tagged progressive lawmakers.

Monteagudo added that the NICA will not be intimidated by Zarate and the Makabayan bloc.

INQUIRER.net has reached out to the Makabayan bloc for comment on Monteagudo’s statement, but its members has yet to respond as of this writing.

JE