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Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), instructed the military on Friday to be more cautious when accusing people of having ties to communist groups.
In a television interview, Sobejana said that one of the guidelines he issued to the troops was to be “very careful” when pointing the accusing finger, as the burden of proof was on them.
“That is one of my highlights in my orientation yesterday (Thursday), that we must be very careful with the burden of proof ay nasa atin (because the burden of proof is on us),” he said.
Evidence must always be presented, Sobejana said.
The military has been widely criticized for arbitrarily labeling people as communists without presenting substantial evidence.
At least one army general has been censured for publishing a list of those he said were rebels or communist sympathizers. The list contained names that had nothing to do with the communist movement and the AFP had to apologize.
Sobejana said AFP should learn from the misinformation it has published.
Recently, the spokesman for the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., warned that he would sue an online news reporter for his report on Aetas being tortured by soldiers.
Parlade accused the reporter of “helping the terrorists by spreading lies.”
Sobejana assured the public that she would investigate the matter.
On Friday, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Parlade’s “careless and unnecessary” comments could weaken the government’s defense of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), which is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
“Coming at a time when the attorney general is defending the 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act against 37 petitions, particularly on the subject of the ‘doctrine of excessive breadth’, among others, such comments from a high-ranking military officer are unnecessary and Totally unnecessary, Lacson, the title sponsor and one of the authors of the Senate version of the ATA, said in a statement.
“There are basic freedoms that remain to be protected and defended under the Law of the Republic 11479, the most important is freedom of expression,” he added.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense and National Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, pointed out that accusing a journalist of “helping terrorists by spreading lies”, assuming that such a comment was attributed to him with precision, surely does not help the government. convince the magistrates of the Supreme Court to rule in their favor.
“In a moment [when] Unity is needed against threats such as terrorism, actions that threaten to divide are the last thing our country needs, ”he said.
With reports from JAVIER JOE ISMAEL
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