"The Armed Forces of the Philippines has once again proven,
all by itself, that it is a fake news factory, with the intent to sabotage the
GRP-NDFP peace talks, to use unfortunate incidents with twisted facts and/or
inflict sufferings on the people," said Karapatan secretary general
Cristina Palabay on the statements of the AFP on the burning of Concepcion National
High School in Valencia City, Bukidnon last March
26, 2017.
"The Armed Forces of the Philippines has once again proven,
all by itself, that it is a fake news factory, with the intent to sabotage the
GRP-NDFP peace talks, to use unfortunate incidents with twisted facts and/or
inflict sufferings on the people," said Karapatan secretary general
Cristina Palabay on the statements of the AFP on the burning of Concepcion National
High School in Valencia City, Bukidnon last March
26, 2017.
The
AFP statement blaming the NPA for the burning of a school in Bukidnon has made
rounds in social media. The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office
(CDDRMO) in Valencia released its findings that the incident was due to short
circuit. Apart from the CDDRMO, a high school teacher in the said school, Mary
Jean Subayco, has also come out to dispute news circulating in social media.
Subayco said they did not have a feeding program fund and further belied any
incident of extortion in the school. The barangay captain of Brgy. Concepcion,
as well as the residents, refuted reports of seeing rebels in the area.
"At this rate, should we expect the AFP to blame the NPA
for the death of Jose Rizal or perhaps, a recent phenomenon like global warming
to save its own skin?" retorted Palabay.
Karapatan noted that many recent reports of the AFP attribute
their intensified military operations in communities to so-called encounters
and actions of the NPA, to justify their encampment in the villages, aerial
bombings, illegal arrests and forcible evacuation. (Please see: https://www.karapatan.org/AFP+is+original+fake+news+mill+in+PH+-…)
"This is not the only case where due to their desperation,
they resorted to lies. This happens every time they file trumped-up charges
against civilians and activists, it happens when they try to justify bombings
and killings, it happens when they need to salvage their already deplorable
image. Worse, now that the peace talks between the GRP and NDFP will commence,
they come up with one lie after the other to derail it," Palabay added.
"Through these stunts, the AFP has shown the country its
own grim and rotten core. As the AFP walks around with a State license to lie
and to kill, it walks into a trap of its own making. We have nothing but
condemnation for its twisted maneuvers and deliberate lies," ended
Palabay.