Army official relieved from post over 'manipulated' NPA photo

The Philippine Army has ordered the relief of a battalion commander in connection with the release of a "manipulated" photo of 300 New People's Army rebels who surrendered in Masbate last month.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala on Friday said Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon Pabon admitted the mistake and took responsibility over the incident. The probe on the incident was finished last January 1.

Zagala said Pabon's relief took effect on January 7.

Pabon heads the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division.

Zagala said the Army is now reviewing its policies to institute necessary changes which will ensure that the mistake will not happen again.

“We hold our personnel with high esteem in all our dealings especially in our releases to the media and the public," he said.

"We constantly train and remind them of our policies so that everyone is knowledgeable in the proper release of information and we take this incident as a valuable experience that will enable us to better perform our mission,” he added.

A "manipulated" photo, supposedly depicting the surrender of NPA rebels in Masbate, circulated over social media in December last year.

Major Ricky Aguilar, 9th ID spokesperson, said there was no intention to mislead the public in the manipulation of the picture. He said it was done only to protect the identities of the former rebels.

The military had assured the public that it would look into the incident and that sanctions would be meted against those responsible for it. —KBK, GMANews