AFP sees sinister NPA move in activists’ retraction

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is seeing a sinister move supposedly by the New People’s Army (NPA) to embarrass the government by using two environmentalists who, after supposedly surrendering, suddenly accused the military of being behind their alleged abduction.

Such a script supposedly being played by communist rebels has also sparked fears that Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, the environmentalists who went missing in Bataan earlier this month, may be treading a dangerous path.

“The act is brazen with a plot that is new, quite deep (with the interplay of red and white area forces) and dangerous (to them if they fail). The brazen act is part of a sinister plot to embarrass and discredit the government and its good intentions,” AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said yesterday over dzMM Radyo630.

He issued the statement after learning how the parents of Tamano revealed in an interview that they too could not believe that their daughter changed her tune during the press briefing of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in Plaridel, Bulacan on Sept. 19.

The environmentalists were supposed to be presented as surrenderees who sought the military’s help. Instead they claimed they were abducted and interrogated by the military.

In the interview, Tamano’s stepfather Enrique Manalastas claimed that they believe their daughter’s original statement and that it is Castro, allegedly a self-confessed member of the NPA, who is pulling the strings or running the story.

He said he and his wife want their daughter home but also agree with the decision of the Commission on Human rights to take custody for the safety of all.

Asked what he thinks really happened, he said he was also surprised by proceedings at the NTF-ELCAC press conference because he and his wife were there when Tamano and Castro surrendered or were rescued by the military.

“Maybe this Jonila has been planning to embarrass the government for a very long time. We all know that she has been part of the armed groups and we do not know their propaganda. This also weighs heavy on us and we hope that our daughter will finally leave this group because it will not give her a good future,” he added.

Meanwhile, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta said that Castro and Tamano had written their own affidavits before a public attorney met with them.

The PAO is currently in hot water after Tamano and Castro refuted the affidavits executed by a public attorney, saying the military had forced their hand.

“They already have a story. How will the PAO intimidate them into writing the affidavit?” Acosta said.

She said the environmentalists were thoroughly interviewed by the public attorney assigned in the Norzagaray district, adding that Tamano was even accompanied by her parents.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the two activists may have been “peer-pressured” by leftist groups to claim that they were abducted by the military and deny that they voluntarily surrendered.

He said the government has “nothing to gain” in violating the law and forcing the activists to lie in their affidavits, saying this is only an example of the “blame throwing” that leftist groups do. – Daphne Galvez, Mayen Jaymalin