The University of the Philippines (UP) on Friday expressed its appreciation to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana for relieving the military’s top intelligence official over the publication of erroneous list of slain and arrested New Peoples’ Army (NPA) members.
Lorenzana relieved on Thursday Major General Alex Luna from his post as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence following the publication of erroneous list of people tagged as NPA members arrested and killed by state forces.
“We in the University of the Philippines express our appreciation for Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s decisive action in relieving Major General Alex Luna of his position as Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence following the publication of a list of alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) killed by state forces – an erroneous list that included members of the UP community who were neither members of the NPA nor slain by state forces,” UP said in a statement Friday.
“Secretary Lorenzana’s move displayed professionalism and a willingness to take responsibility for and rectify errors, especially errors as grievous and potentially life-threatening as this list. As UP stands for honor and excellence, we recognize and salute honor wherever it is manifested,” it added.
Lorenzana said the publication of an “erroneous” list of alleged NPA killed by the military, which he said came from the office of Luna, is an “unforgivable lapse.”
“His negligence only shows a lackadaisical attitude toward his job resulting in confusion and damage to reputation. We do not take these offenses lightly and I want to hold the people involved accountable,” he said.
A list of UP students allegedly captured and killed by the military after joining the communist group was recently posted in the social media page of the AFP Information Exchange.
The AFP has since apologized to UP for the social media post, which was already taken down but not before it drew flak from netizens.
The list was used to justify the abrogation of the Department of National Defense-University of the Philippines (DND-UP) agreement which requires AFP to seek clearance first from the UP administration before entering any of its campuses.