UP-NCPAG chides AFP for ‘blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community’
MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) on Tuesday denounced the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for its “blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community” when it published “information without proper verification.”
UP-NCPAG specifically decried the AFP’s Civil Relations Service for “misappropriating UP’s logo” and “peddling opinion as fact” in its recent Facebook post quoting a view of a certain Professor Michael Castillo on the unilateral repeal of the 1989 UP-DND accord.
“We deplore AFP’s blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community by misappropriating UP’s logo, peddling opinion as fact, and generally releasing information without proper verification of its sources,” it said in a statement.
“As the primary duty-bearer of our national security, we expect nothing less from the AFP to observe the strictest standards in upholding truth and integrity as it performs its duty,” it added.
NCPAG Statement on Mr. Michael Castillo and the 1989 UP-DND AccordA recent Facebook post by the AFP's Civil Relations…
Posted by UP-NCPAG on Monday, January 25, 2021
On January 24, the AFP’s Civil Relations Service shared on its Facebook page the opinion of Castillo accompanied with a logo of UP.
Castillo’s piece reads: “Tignan niyo ang profile ng mga komunista, sila ‘yung matagal doon sa University maka-graduate. Kaya talagang pahirap sila kasi dapat yung additional three years nila sa university, ibang estudyante na dapat ang kumukuha ng slot na ‘yan.”
(Check the profiles of the communists, they are those who stay longer at the University and take longer to graduate. They are a burden because the additional three years that they spend at the university, that should have been given to more deserving students.”
“Majority ng taga-UP hindi naman pinapansin ang mga komunista na iyan kasi iyan naman ay maliit lang ang bilang. Their ideology is faulty,” he added.
(Majority of those in UP do not pay attention to those communists because they only have small numbers. Their ideology is faulty.)
According to UP-NCPAG, Castillo’s post does not indicate his college affiliation. But, it added, “people might get the impression that he is from UP-NCPAG because of online references that mention him being a Senior Lecturer in the College.”
“In the spirit of truth and fairness, let it be put on record that while Mr. Castillo served as a part-time lecturer for 2nd Semester, AY 2014-2015 and 1st and 2nd Semester, AY 2015-2016, he is not and never has been a professor or a regular faculty member of NCPAG. His views do not represent the views of NCPAG or its faculty,” it noted.
UP-NCPAG then conveyed its support to UP’s stance that its agreement with DND should not have been terminated. UP-NCPAG likewise said it backs UP’s calls for dialogues in order to find a common ground that will “honor and respect the mandates of both institutions.”
To recall, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana unilaterally terminated a 1989 security agreement with the state university, which requires the police and military to give notification to school officials before entering its campuses.
