MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has apologized for releasing a list that enumerated students and alumni of the University of the Philippines as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
The AFP Information Exchange issued its apology in a Facebook post Monday after some of the UP alumni raised a howl saying that the inaccurate photo stirred misinformation.
“We sincerely apologize for those who were inadvertently affected by inconsistencies regarding the list of students who joined the NPA (died or captured) that was posted in the AFP Information Exchange Facebook account,” it said.
“That article has since been immediately taken down or deleted from our social media accounts,” it added. “The AFP is already conducting an internal investigation as to how the list got published. Personnel who are responsible will be held to account.”
“We want to assure the public that we are now reviewing our processes and procedures to ensure that similar incident will not happen again in the future,” it furthered.
Marie Lisa Dacanay, an alumna who was included in the list, said the AFP must be held accountable for releasing such “false news.”
“I will not take this lightly as we need to make the AFP accountable for actions that are libelous and potentially endangering and wreaking havoc on the lives of individuals like me who are living a peaceful and meaningful life,” said Dacanay.
Dacanay currently works as president of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, advised the AFP to be more prudent in issuing information on its social media pages.
“I can only suggest that they be more prudent para hindi na po napapa-apologize ang ating Secretary of National Defense,” Roque said in a virtual press conference on Monday.
“(Defense) secretary (Delfin) Lorenzana has apologized for his mistakes, let’s leave it at that. There’s no overall communication plan on red-tagging, we leave that to the Defense establishments, sila po ‘yan,” he added./PN
