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Family says red-tagged UP student has been dead for 29 years
A man accused by the AFP of being a member of the NPA has actually been dead for 29 years, his family said, adding that it is "irresponsible" of the military to make such claims without basis.
In a letter sent to UP Diliman, the brother of red-tagged Rafael Japa Jr. said he died in April 1992 of a massive heart attack while he was at home with his family.
“Raffy Japa has been dead for almost 29 years without any charges filed against him. It is outrageous and irresponsible that a government office should make such accusations at this point in time, more so, without basis,” his brother Ramil said.
Ramil said Japa was a sportswriter and columnist for several major daily newspapers.
“He was a journalist who wrote the news, and was never a public personality. He did not even meddle in politics,” he said.
“No amount of political reasoning could justify the vilification of the dead, just because you want to back out of a contractual agreement in the UP-DND Accord,” he added.
In a now-deleted post, the "Armed Forces of the Philippines Information Exchange" named 27 people, including Japa, claiming them to be UP students who became members of the NPA and who were either killed or arrested.
The list was shared a few days after the Department of National Defense unilaterally terminated a 31-year-old agreement with UP
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“The dead cannot be the terrorists you are running after. They are already in peace. Respect their memories and leave them out of your maneuverings,” Ramil said.
Ramil said it was illegal to charge the dead with involvement with terrorism “as he cannot defend himself anymore.”
“It is also immoral to bear false witness against others. They have the machinery to make all the investigations that they want—why did they not perform their job,” he said
He also pointed out that the Facebook page was of the government and that they should respect and follow the rule of law.
“It is criminal to make malicious imputations of a wrong or defect, and to blacken or besmirch the memory of the dead who basically cannot defend himself anymore,” he said.
Åccording to Ramil, the only correct information provided by the page was that Japa was a UP student who was a member of the Philippine Collegian.
“He was an activist while he was in UP, protesting against the administration of then-President Marcos, but that did not prove him to be a member of the NPA,” he said.
The AFP Information Exchange has since apologized for the "inconsistencies" in its post, and said that a probe is underway. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News