Not a ‘PR initiative,’ Tutaan says of AFP decision to tap him as new spokesman

New AFP spokesman BGen. Domingo Tutaan PHOTO/A2C Bryan Bautista/ AFP PAO

MANILA, Philippines – The newly installed spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Monday disputed allegation that his new assignment in the military was a “PR initiative.”

Brigadier General Domingo Tutaan said he sees his new assignment as an opportunity to forge a “partnership” with the public.

“I look into this as some of a partnership, we have to be one….so that we will be able to inform the public of these issues and concerns, so we can put everything into perspective…This is not our PR initiative…,” Tutaan told reporters after the turnover ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo.

Tutaan assumed as the new AFP spokesman and at the same time Internal Auditor of the AFP.

Prior to his post, he was the head of the AFP Human Rights Office.

New York-based group Human Rights Watch earlier slammed the appointment of Tutaan, saying it “only underscores the suspicion that the AFP Human Rights Office, which has mainly done damage control for the military, is nothing but a PR initiative.”

“I don’t know what [others say] but as I’ve said it’s not a PR [initiative]. I should know, I was the one designated on the matter so it’s something that we did in our serious business,” Tutaan said.

Tutaan is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1981, the same class of AFP Chief General Emmanuel Bautista.

He replaced Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., who is now with the Army’s Civil Military Operations Group.