AFP to apologize to lawyer it included in ‘NPA’ list —Lorenzana

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will apologize to a lawyer whom they included in a list of supposed members of an armed rebel group.

In an interview, Lorenzana was asked if the AFP will apologize to lawyer Rafael Aquino.

“Yes, the AFP will apologize. What reason will they give? I do not know. It’s an unpardonable gaffe,” Lorenzana said.

In a statement on January 21, Aquino sought an apology from the AFP after it included him in its list of University of the Philippines students who supposedly joined the New People’s Army (NPA) who were captured or killed.

The list was published on AFP’s website, according to him.

“I was a UP student for twelve straight years, from high school to law school; there was no opportunity for me to be associated in any way with the New People’s Army,” he said.

“Not being NPA to begin with, I was never captured by the military. I also did not have the opportunity to be killed by the military or anyone else; I am very much alive,” he added.

Aquino said that currently he is part of the team of lawyers deployed by the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) to represent one group of petitioners for 36 others questioning the validity of Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 before the Supreme Court.

“With the others in the list, I am owed an apology by the AFP in whose website this list appeared. In these perilous times, this malicious inclusion in such a list is hazardous to our health and safety,” he said. — BM, GMA News