December 30, 2019 | 10:42am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Army stressed that the photo of rebel surrenderees are authentic but there was a mistake in "merging" the image.
The Army's 9th Division earlier admitted that the photo released to the media on December 26 was manipulated.
Philippine Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division wanted to show a photo of its accomplishment of having a series of surrenders in Masbate.
"The photo that they showed is two authentic photos of firearms and rebels, former rebels, but they merged it together so that's where the problem and mistake lies," Zagala told ANC's "Headstart" Monday morning.
Zagala stressed that the two separate photos are authentic but they were merged.
The 2nd Infantry Battalion recorded a total of 306 surrenderees in Masbate following negotiations that started in October.
"They are real surrenders. There are 306 surrenders in Masbate and this is a worthy accomplishment of the 9th Infantry Division and we stand by our units especially in their efforts for local peace negotiations for surrenders," Zagala said.
According to Zagala, the Army unit wanted to show a photo of the surrenderees with the firearms as the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program provided remuneration for firearms when rebels surrender.
Under the ECLIP, the local government provides livelihood assistance and remuneration for firearms when rebels surrender and reintegrate into the community.
"Of course those who are peace spoilers would question it (ECLIP) because of the photograph but again we would like to emphasize that the two separate photographs are real," the Army spokesperson said.
Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, meanwhile, called out the manipulated photo released by the military to "fake" the surrenders of NPA rebels.
"The National Task Force-ELCAC is preoccupied with psywar which stages fake surrenders, fake encounters and fake projects. These allow the military and police officers to pocket large amounts of public funds," Sison said.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, on the other hand, said the photo was not manipulated but only combined.
In a radio interview last Sunday, Panelo said the explanation to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was that the two pictures were made a collage.
"The two [photos] were combined. That’s not manipulation," Panelo said.
Lorenzana, meanwhile, has ordered an investigation into the photo manipulation of supposed rebel surrenderers in Masbate, pointing out that the issue was "very serious" as it undermines the efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in fighting communist insurgency in the country.
The defense chief said sanctions will be meted to those responsible for the manipulation of the photo.
“The military is doing well, enjoying an unprecedented high trust rating from the people. And now this? This action is unacceptable,” Lorenzana said.
