Malacañang has reminded the military to be "more prudent" in issuing statements on the alleged communist links of some individuals.
(OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the suggestion after the military drew criticisms over a controversial list of University of the Philippines (UP) students allegedly captured and killed after joining the New People's Army.
A lawyer earlier demanded an apology from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) after he was mistakenly included in the list.
"Secretary Lorenzana has apologized for mistakes, let’s leave it at that," Roque said during a Palace press briefing Monday.
"I can only speak for the President so I can only suggest that they be more prudent para hindi na po napapa-apologize ang ating Secretary of National Defense (so our Secretary of National Defense will not seek an apology)," he added.
Roque insisted that the government had no communication plan on linking individuals to the communist rebel group.
"There is no overall communication plan on red-tagging. We leave that to the Defense establishment," he said.
The military earlier posted on Facebook a list of several names of UP students who allegedly joined the NPA, triggering complaints over alleged inaccuracy and misinformation.
The disclosure of the names came days after the Department of National Defense scrapped an agreement with UP that prevented military and police presence in its premises without notifying school officials.
The AFP Information Exchange has issued a public apology over the list and assured an investigation into how the list got published has already started.
The post has been detected from the military's social media accounts.
"We sincerely apologize for those who were inadvertently affected by inconsistencies regarding the List of Students who joined the NPA (Died or Captured) that was posted in the AFP Information Exchange Facebook account,” the AFP Information Exchange said in a Facebook post.