Año's appointment to DILG 'disturbing' –Bayan

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Wednesday said it finds the impending appointment of Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) "disturbing," noting his "bloody human rights record."

"He was implicated in the abduction of [missing activist] Jonas Burgos and was accused of human rights violations in the course of counter-insurgency operations," said Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes in a statement issued shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte announced Año's next assignment.

Reyes also said Año's appointment "points to a very disturbing trend of militarizing the bureaucracy," especially as it came in the heels of former Armed Forces chief Roy Cimatu's appointment to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"The appointments of Cimatu and Año point to the Duterte regime's dangerous unfolding towards the right," Reyes said. "These are worrisome developments, coming on the heels of a terrible drug war and the continuing militarization of the countryside."

Meanwhile, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Año's appointment to the DILG "is a welcome development."

"His numerous accomplishments as a military officer are true measures of his leadership, character and competence which are much needed for his new assignment," said Trillanes, a former Navy officer.

Año is set to retire from the military service in October. —KBK, GMA News