'It's a collage': Panelo splits hairs over photoshopped Army pic
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on Sunday played down the viral photo of supposed New People's Army surrenderees that the Army has admitted was edited, saying it was a collage.
The Army has apologized for releasing the photo, which showed a table of firearms that the rebels had allegedly surrendered and the supposed surrenderees. The faces of the alleged former rebels had been blurred, a common practice to hide their identity.
Less common was how the supposed rebels' feet seemed to be floating.
The Army said the 9th Infantry Division's "admission to the mistake is proof of their commitment to the high standards of public affairs principles. We will investigate this matter and hold whoever is accountable to face the appropriate sanctions."
In a radio interview on Sunday, Panelo said: "I was just talking to [Defense] Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. The explanation to him was, there were two pictures combined. Hindi naman minanipulate. Kinollage, pinagsama yung dalawang picture."
Major Ricky Aguilar, spokesperson of the 9th ID said that although the photo distributed to reporters had been edited, "[t]here were indeed 306 surrenderers in Masbate where negotiations [began] sometime October 2019."
"The actual surrender was done [on] December 26, 2019," Aguilar also said.
History of splitting hairs
"The two [photos] were combined. That’s not manipulation," Panelo said despite Lorenzana previously saying the photo and its release were "unacceptable."
The Army did not indicate that the photograph was collaged at the time of release and some media outlets had shared the photo before users on social media noticed discrepancies.
"Sanctions will be meted to those who perpetrated it. This is very serious because it undermines the efforts of the whole organization, the [Armed Forces of the Philippines]," he said in a statement on Saturday.
"The military is doing well enjoying an unprecedented high trust rating from the people. And now this? This action is unacceptable."
One Facebook user claimed the picture of the supposed rebels, which Panelo said was simply collaged with the other image, was taken at a separate event two years ago.
In response, Bayan Muna secretary-general Renato Reyes tweeted: “2020 na guys, ganyan pa rin kayo magpalusot.”
(It's 2020 and you're still using that excuse)
Examples of the presidential spokesman splitting hairs are nothing new and the Malacañang mouthpiece has often used semantics to sidestep an issue.
After a report from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism pointed out that Duterte was the first president in decades not to publicize his SALN, Panelo said at a press conference that this was not necessary because Duterte had already filed it with the Office of the Ombudsman.
RELATED: Fact check: Secrecy around SALNs not exclusive to Duterte administration
Panelo said it was "baseless if not malicious" to perceive the non-release of Duterte's SALN as a lack of transparency, saying the president was only required to disclose his wealth to the Office of the Ombudsman, not to the public.
This, despite the Administrative Code stating "the declaration [of the SALNs of the President among others] shall be disclosed to the public in the manner provided by law."
The Office of the Ombudsman’s own guidelines on access to the SALNs, which it is in the process of revising, says: “The SALNs shall be made available to the public for inspection and reproduction.”
‘No crisis, only traffic’
After activist groups claimed that there was a mass transportation crisis plaguing the metro, Panelo took a commute "challenge" to disprove this.
In the same week, the three mass transit systems in Metro Manila broke down in the span of a week. Just the week before, transport and labor groups held a nationwide transport strike against the PUV modernization program, which looked to phase out jeepneys that are at least 15 years old.
FROM 2017: A year of battling through traffic and train queues
At numerous press conferences, Panelo was quoted as saying that such a transportation crisis did not exist because people still got to where they needed to go at the end of the day.
"Ano bang ibig nilang sabihin na transportation crisis? Ang nakikita ko lang traffic. May transportation naman, nakakasakay naman tayo lahat," Panelo said in a press briefing.
(What transportation crisis are they talking about? All I see is the traffic. There is transportation. Everyone gets to catch a ride)
READ: Groups call for sincerity as Panelo agrees to commuting 'challenge'
Once his "challenge" was done, he concluded that commuters simply had to leave their homes earlier if they wanted to get to their destinations on time.
‘Making threats not the same as bullying’
Over a year ago in December, Duterte's spokesperson justified the president's rhetoric, saying that it was "not the same as bullying."
RELATED: Palace: Making threats not the same as bullying
Panelo said: "He expresses his sentiment on a particular matter, situation. He expresses dislike and he explains it. He threatens criminals, yes. To make them feel threatened and stop doing their criminal acts.”
Even Duterte admitted to using bullying as something of a tactic in his rhetoric.
“They accused me of being a bully. That’s true. I said I’m a bully to the enemies of the state. If you don’t want to talk to me, I don’t want to talk to you,” he said in his second state of the nation address, referring to communists and leftist groups.
In September of this year, international human rights organization Global Witness echoed what rights groups have long been saying: that Duterte's rhetoric and war on drugs have "fostered a culture of impunity and fear, emboldening the politically and economically powerful to use violence and hitmen against those they see as an obstacle or a threat."
The President’s legal counsel at a press briefing said in response: "You know, when somebody dies, we have to investigate whether or not that concerns whatever advocacy he has or that is a personal thing.”
READ: Palace disputes claim that Duterte's rhetoric emboldened killings of land defenders
"We cannot just generalize," he added.
Filipino captain but Greek-owned ship
The Filipino captain of Greek-owned ship Green Aura claimed to be have been harassed and tailed by Chinese ships claiming to be “naval warships” and who insisted their ship change course earlier this year.
READ: Philippines is 'the lead in the South China Sea disputes,' Locsin claims
Despite the Green Aura having a Filipino crew, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the case was “not our concern” because it involved a Greek-owned ship.
"We cannot deprive the country being represented by the oil tanker of its right and duty to protect its own ship," he said in a statement.
"To do otherwise, will be effectively divesting such country of its right and competence to take the cudgels for its ship. Such a demeanor will be a disrespect to it and even insulting to the capability of that country to assert its right."
Meeting with Sanchez kin
When news of the potential early release of convicted rapist and murderer Antonio Sanchez grabbed the headlines, Panelo stressed that he had not been in contact with the former mayor of Calauan, Laguna.
READ: Salvador Panelo referred Antonio Sanchez clemency bid to board
In September, it was found that Panelo had referred the request of Sanchez's family for executive clemency after the former's letters to the Board of Pardons and Parole surfaced in an official inquiry.
“In line with the President’s commitment (to) good governance, transparency and immediate action on matters that affect the welfare of the people, we are referring this matter to your good office for your evaluation and whatever appropriate action you may want to undertake under the premises,” Panelo said in his letter.
At a press briefing at Malacañang, Panelo admitted meeting members of the Sanchez family and said that he denied that there had been any contact because "my understanding of the question is it was in reference to Sanchez himself."
"What is important is I told them exactly (that) the Bureau of Corrections would be the one to determine whether or not your application will be approved or not. We can’t do anything about it. We always have to follow the law," he said.
He also said that there was no need to disclose to media that he had met with Sanchez's family since it was recorded in the security logbook.
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