On Sunday, August 21, the country commemorated the 39th death anniversary of the late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., also known as the Ninoy Aquino Day, but two maritime units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) chose to besmirch the reputation of the late democracy icon’s name on social media.
In a now deleted post, a Twitter account which says it represents the Quezon Maritime Police Station of the PNP’s Maritime Group (MG) posted a photo of combatants holding guns with red paint on their faces, imitating the looks of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
Imprinted on it were the words: “Karahasan hindi kapayapaan ang tunay na plano ng CPP-NPA-NDF (Violence, not peace is what the CPP-NPA-NDF truly aim).” CPP-NPA-NDF refers to the leading communist groups in the country, the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, and National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
The Quezon Maritime Police Station wrote three hastags as a caption for the photo: #PagkakaisaHindiPagaalsa which translates to “Unity not rebellion,” #NinoyNotAHero, and #NinoyNPA.
The tweet was posted at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, August 20, a day before the Ninoy Aquino Day.
Meanwhile, a separate Twitter account which says it represents the Batangas Maritime Police Station posted a caricature showing the words “NPA” connected to a puppet string; and “Imulat ang mata sa katotohanan. Dekada ng lumalabag sa karapatang pantao ang CPP-NPA-NDF (Open your eyes to the truth. The CPP-NPA-NDF have been violating human rights for decades).”
The post was made at 5:25 p.m. on Saturday.
The PNP leadership was quick to issue a statement, saying an investigation was launched to determine possible violations of the Quezon Maritime Police Station and Batangas Maritime Police Station.
“The PNP does not engage in name-calling that can malign any person’s reputation. We value respect for human dignity,” said Police Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba, chief of PNP public information office (PIO).
“The posts had been taken down and are now being investigated to determine those responsible for these,” he stated.
“If anyone in the organization is found accountable, appropriate disciplinary actions will be imposed,” he concluded.
The PNP has imposed a social media policy among its personnel to serve as guidelines for their appropriate behavior and conduct online. However, various police units continue to violate them in recent years, using social media to link groups and personalities to communist groups.
In 2021, several police units, including the Quezon City Police District, the largest police unit in Metro Manila, was accused of red-tagging organizers of community pantries to communist groups.