Gov’t spokespersons can’t give own opinions—Palace

MANILA, Philippines—Spokespersons in the government should stick to existing policy and should refrain from making personal comments, a Malacañang aide said on Saturday, in connection with the relief of erstwhile Army spokesperson, Colonel Anthony Parlade, in the wake of the tragic Al-Barka clash.

“This is not against transparency. It is not contrary to what we have been espousing. But the fact remains that as spokespersons, we are not policy makers,” said Undersecretary Abigail Valte, President Benigno Aquino’s deputy spokesperson.

“We are supposed to stick to what the policy is. That should be clear to all spokespersons in government. We cannot give our personal opinion,” said Valte over state-run radio dzRB.

After the clash with the MILF that caused the deaths of 19 soldiers in Al-Barka, Basilan, Parlade publicly called for the suspension of the ceasefire with the MILF so the government could pursue those responsible for the carnage.

Told that the sacking of officers instead of going after the rebels could cause demoralization among the ranks of the military, Valte said, “It was revealed in the command conference that there were operational lapses that, of course, we are not at liberty to discuss.”

“This is not a case of siding with the other force because there’s no such thing,” Valte said.

“We just want to see what else happened and what could be improved because it’s no laughing matter to lose 19 of our soldiers and we also want to sure that our operational details, our procedures are such that they are at the optimum level,” he added.