NUJP demands apology from AFP for tagging ex-chair as NPA backer

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) is demanding a public apology from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for supposedly accusing its former chairperson Inday Espina-Varona of being in cahoots with communist rebels.

NUJP was reacting to a statement from 4^th Infantry Division information officer Capt. Patrick Martinez, which it said was a reaction to Varona’s story that “purportedly accused soldiers of arson.”

The Army claimed that communist rebels were responsible for burning the teachers’ tribal school cottage in Agusan del Sur in November.

READ: Karapatan claims Army-backed men burned teachers’ cottage inn Agusan sur

“The 4th ID statement, which claimed the New People’s Army was responsible for the arson based on the statement of a former rebel, insinuates that the only way Inday could have gotten news of the incident out so fast would have been if she received the information from the perpetrators in what (Martinez) claims was a ‘planned and orchestrated’ series of events,” NUJP said in a statement on Tuesday.

But NUJP said the only thing linking Varona to the military’s accusations was a Facebook post of human rights group Karapatan which she shared on her Facebook account.

The media group also cited a report by Cagayan de Oro community paper Gold Star Daily, which quoted Martinez as saying that what the AFP issued was an “advisory” in “response to what she posted on her social media that we thought was not fair.”

“He (Martinez) claimed the statement on Inday ‘was meant to reach out to the public who read her post on social media. It was not intended to vilify her.’ And then he drops the lie, claiming they tried to comment on Inday’s page but were ‘blocked.’ But as anyone familiar with Inday’s Facebook account, her page is public, meaning it is open to anyone to comment on,” the statement added.

NUJP said Martinez’s statement was in defiance with the second word in the motto of the Philippine Military Academy, which was integrity.

“Be that as it may, it does not change the tenor of the original statement he, as 4th ID information officer, issued, which in itself belies his claim that it was not their intention to vilify or endanger Inday. As the still growing river of blood in this country proves, being publicly accused by the military of links to ‘enemies of the state’ is detrimental to one’s health,” NUJP said.

“We reiterate our demand for Captain Martinez and (401st Infantry Brigade commander) Colonel [Alexander] Macario to retract their statement and publicly apologize to Inday Espina-Varona and for the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to impose sanctions on these officers who can endanger citizens of this republic in so cavalier a fashion,” it added. RC

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