MANILA, Philippines — While Senator Francis Pangilinan welcomed the apology of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) over the erroneous list of UP students who allegedly joined the New People’s Army (NPA), he stressed the importance of holding someone accountable for the mistake.
“This is unprofessional behavior, and politicized men in uniform should never be tolerated. An apology is one thing, but taking action is another,” Pangilinan said in a statement Monday.
“If this goes unpunished, kung walang managot dito, posibleng mangyari lang ito uli [if no one is held accountable, it’s possible that this will happen again]. Paulit-ulit na lang [Over and over again]. Bad eggs should never be left unpunished,” he added.
The opposition senator said this blunder is a sign that unprofessionalism and politics are spreading among the AFP.
“Dapat natin tandaan na ang politicized at unprofessional armed forces noong panahon ni Marcos ang syang naging dahilan ng disunity at coup plots nung dekada 80 at 90. Tinatanggap natin ang apology subalit dapat seryusuhin ng liderato ng AFP na walang puwang ang unprofessionalism at incompetence sa ating AFP,” he said.
(We must remember that the politicized and unprofessional armed forces during the Marcos era were the cause of disunity and coup plots in the 80s and 90s. We accept the apology but the AFP leadership should take this seriously, that there is no room for unprofessionalism and incompetence in our AFP.)
“We welcome the apology. However, we reiterate that the AFP should ensure adherence to the strictest tenets of professionalism. Dapat may managot sa mga kapabayaang tulad nito [someone should be held accountable for this negligence],” Pangilinan added.
On Sunday, the AFP Civil-Military Operations Office apologized for “inconsistencies” in the list of students who allegedly joined the NPA published on Facebook by a page named “Armed Forces of the Philippines Information Exchange.”
The said page released 27 names of former UP students who allegedly either died or joined the NPA.
However, contrary to the content of the list, at least eight people whose names were mentioned are alive and have neither been captured nor proven to be members of the NPA, Pangilinan noted.
“Dapat pahintuin at parusahan na ng military ang mga gumagawa nitong pag-re-red-tag. Dahil sa maling pag-label sa mga tao, nagiging target sila ng panggigipit at pinakamalala pa, pagpatay,” Pangilinan warned.
(The military should stop and punish those who do this red-tagging. By mislabeling people, they become targets of harassment and most importantly, murder.) Zac Sarao, INQUIRER.net trainee
JPV
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