Año backs probe vs Alvarez for sedition

MANILA, Philippines — National Security Adviser Eduardo Año has joined calls for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate and file charges against Davao del Norte first district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

Año denounced Alvarez’s irresponsible, illegal and unconstitutional call for the military to withdraw support from President Marcos, considering that Alvarez is also a reservist colonel of the Navy’s Philippine Marine Corps.

“It erodes the very foundation of our democratic institutions and undermines the supremacy of civilian authority over the military. Such utterances and actions can be construed as seditious or rebellious and they have no place in our society,” Año said in a statement yesterday.

Año, former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Alvarez underestimated the professionalism and integrity of both the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“We call on the Department of Justice to thoroughly review this matter and consider appropriate legal actions against Rep. Alvarez and others similarly situated,” he added.

Both the AFP and PNP are institutions that are loyal to “the Constitution, the rule of law, the chain of command and the President as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Insinuations to the contrary are baseless and unfounded,” he stressed.

“(The AFP and PNP) shall continue to remain above petty partisan, political or personal interests,” he added.

Alvarez should not drag these institutions into serving partisan agendas, Año said, “even if such calls are made, as he claimed, in a fit of emotion.”

On Tuesday, the Philippine Navy said it initiated an investigation against Alvarez who will be asked to explain his actions.

“We take exception to the recent statement of the 1st District Davao del Norte Representative and Marine reservist, Pantaleon Alvarez. The Philippine Navy has already directed the 9th Marine Brigade to conduct an investigation and to ask Col. Alvarez to explain his statements. The result of the investigation will be the basis of the Navy’s actions moving forward,” its statement read.

‘Seditious’

Camiguin Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo yesterday lauded Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla’s decision to investigate Alvarez for his “seditious statement” calling on the military to withdraw support from the Marcos administration.

Romualdo suggested the DOJ should issue a show cause order to Alvarez.

Alvarez’s claim that his April 14 statement is protected by freedom of speech “is just an excuse to evade prosecution,” Romualdo said.

“Let’s not make alibis. He very well knows that free speech is not absolute. One cannot make a seditious call or a libelous statement without facing the consequences,” the administration lawmaker from Mindanao noted.

Romualdo had asked the DOJ to investigate Alvarez’s remarks made during a rally in Tagum City, where former president Rodrigo Duterte’s followers had assembled against the proposed Charter change.

Duterte is now a vocal critic of Marcos.

“The response to the seditious statement should be the immediate filing of a criminal case so that the move to incite people, including the military, to rebel against the government will be nipped in the bud,” Romualdo said.  – Delon Porcalla