Roque asks AFP to exercise prudence in disclosing names of suspected communist rebels

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday urged the military to exercise prudence after it erroneously identified some alumni of the University of the Philippines (UP) as supposed members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“[Defense] Secretary Lorenzana has apologized for mistakes. Let’s leave it at that. But there is no overall communication plan on red-tagging. We leave that to the defense establishment,” the Palace official said at a press briefing.

“I can only suggest that they be more prudent para hindi na po napapa-apologize ang ating Secretary of National Defense.”

The AFP Civil-Military Operations Office apologized on Sunday night and launched an internal investigation as to how the list got published.

“Personnel who are responsible will be held to account," it said.

The statement came hours after Lorenzana described as “unpardonable gaffe”  the inclusion of a lawyer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) list of UP students who supposedly joined the NPA who were captured or killed.

The list has since been deleted from the AFP’s social media accounts. 

UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo has decried the “baseless” red-tagging of several alumni by the AFP as he feared that a database that is “riddled with factual errors may unduly become the basis for overt and covert military action against our students and alumni across four decades or more.”

Lieutenant General  Antonio Parlade Jr., spokesman for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), earlier claimed that communist recruitment was taking place in at least 18 learning institutions, including UP.

In response, Roque said the Palace had no access to information to confirm or deny what Parlade shared to the public last Saturday.

Five of the universities identified by the military official have already denounced their inclusion in the list. — RSJ, GMA News